Restoring Washington After Trump’s Remake Must Begin on January 21, 2029

A new CNN poll shows a record-high 73% of U.S. adults feel President Donald Trump has not paid enough attention to the country’s most important problems. His nonstop efforts to transform Washington into a monument to himself offer a compelling example of his misplaced priorities.

Trump treats the nation’s capital as if it is just another one of his properties (it is not irrelevant that, in private life, Trump properties went bankrupt six times). Trump’s efforts to rip up Washington while he rips off the presidency for unprecedented riches, as he pays little attention to the financial struggles of Americans, shows just how absorbed Trump is in his projects.

Trump’s efforts to rip up Washington while he rips off the presidency for unprecedented riches, as he ignores the financial struggles of Americans, shows just how absorbed Trump is in his projects.

The restoration of Washington must begin on January 21, 2029, if not sooner. Here is my list in reverse order of the top ten Trump self-serving efforts that must be addressed:

10. Name, face, and signature

Trump has plastered his name, picture, and signature everywhere he could. This includes huge banners of his picture hung on government buildings, his name and picture on bills, coins and passports, his name on buildings, and on it goes. The next administration should end the use of presidential branding for living presidents and remove Trump’s name and image from government-related places wherever practical.

9. Lafayette Park fence

Lafayette Park is opposite the White House and is a popular place for tourists and for protesters to hold events. President Trump wants to place a permanent eight-or-nine-foot fence around the park. Protests have been held in the park for more than a century, dating back to the suffragists. If the permanent fence is built, the next administration should take it down in 2029, after taking account of any reasonable security needs.

8. Qatari Jet “Gift”

Last year, Qatari made a “gift” of a Boeing 747 to serve as a transitional Air Force One. The gift was dressed up as a gift to the United States and to Trump’s library after he leaves office. But the true intended recipient was Trump. The cost to taxpayers of refitting this “gift” plane is estimated at between $400 million to $1 billion. The plane should remain the property of the United States and never be in the possession of Trump, his presidential library, or any other person or entity.

7. Rose Garden

Trump took the Rose Garden, which was the creation and pride of former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, paved it over and turned it into a patio that appears to be his desired second Mar-a-Lago patio. The late Mrs. Kennedy deserves to have her prized contribution to White House history honored. The next administration should restore the Rose Garden and its historic landscape, plantings, and character. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago-style patio should be fully removed.

6. Kennedy Center

Named to honor the assassinated President Kennedy, Trump named himself chairman of the John F. Kenndy Memorial Center, replaced the board with Trump acolytes, and outrageously added his own name to the name of the Center and put it first. The courts forced him to take his name off the Kennedy Center and prevented him from shutting the place as he intended to do for two years. The next administration and Congress should restore appropriate governance, protect the Center’s statutory name, eliminate Trump’s political branding, and rebuild the relationships with the artists and the audiences that have been largely destroyed.

5. Reflecting Pool

Trump screwed up his “renovation” of the Reflecting Pool from the start. No-bid contracts were given to two firms who proceeded to paint the bottom “American flag blue.” The paint quickly began to peel, the “repaired” pool filled with algae and the water turned green. Trump tried to shift the blame, alleging with no apparent evidence (as usual) that the pool had been sabotaged. The next administration should disclose the cost and contracting history of the Trump project and restore the pool under normal contracting and preservation standards.

4. Presidential Walk of Fame

Trump created a “Walk of Fame” on the outside walkway of the White House’s West Wing and lined the walk with pictures of the past presidents. According to the New York Times, the plaques below the presidential pictures are “peppered with falsehoods, misrepresentations, insults, praise, self-promotion and erratic capitalizations.” In the case of President Biden, he describes him as “the worst President in American history,” a title history instead will surely reserve for Trump. In 2029, we need to tear down that wall. Any future installation like this should use plaques written by qualified historians and reviewed according to nonpartisan professional standards.

3. National Garden of American Heroes

Trump wants to build a sculpture garden at West Potomac Park consisting of 250 statues recognizing American icons that he exclusively has chosen. No one should trust Trump to make these picks fairly. Last month, a lawsuit was filed that challenged the project, stating it violated a congressional requirement that “no new ‘commemorative work’ shall be located within ‘the great cross-axis of the Mall, an area that includes West Potomac Park.” The Garden should be eliminated or replaced with statues chosen by an appropriate and diverse group of distinguished individuals.

2. Ballroom

The Trump administration tore down the East Wing as a prelude to Trump building a massive ballroom that would dwarf the rest of the White House. The estimated cost was first $200 million and then $400 million – with Trump initially saying all of it would be paid by private sources. The estimated cost now is $600 million with taxpayers paying more than half of the cost. Judge Richard Leon halted construction of the ballroom unless and until Congress approves it. Nevertheless, the ballroom construction has continued.

Whether it stands as is or is eventually completed, the next administration should conduct an independent review to determine whether the responsible remedy is removal, major redesign or another approach consistent with the dignity and primacy of the People’s House.

1. Arch

Trump’s Arch, projected at 250 feet high, is the ultimate monstrosity in his efforts to leave his “mark” on Washington, D.C. Strong opposition to the project has been raised by veterans and others, including three veterans who brought a lawsuit challenging the project. “Critics of the arch say it will complicate traffic, disrupt the symbolic view between [Arlington] cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial and disrespect those buried on those nearby hallowed grounds.” This project is Trump’s monument to himself. If it ends up being built, it should be taken down quickly after January 20, 2029.

Presidents are temporary occupants of public institutions and public spaces. They are not owners. They should not use the presidency to convert national landmarks into personal monuments, or fabricate or rewrite history in their own favor, or leave taxpayers responsible for cleaning up their vanity projects.

The White House and the nation’s capital belong to the American people.

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Fred’s Weekly Note appears on Thursdays in Wertheimer’s Political Report, a Democracy 21 newsletter. Read this week’s newsletter, and other recent editions, here. And subscribe for free here and receive your copy each week via email.