President Trump is reshaping the White House and the nation’s capital at a blistering pace, cementing a physical legacy as he faces his final years in power after dominating U.S. politics for a decade.
His attempt to beautify The People’s House and Washington mirrors his career as a real estate tycoon who transformed landscapes.
But it also reflects the image-conscious leader’s drive to be remembered when he no longer directs public policy and global affairs.
“Buildings and monuments are not subject to repeal,” said Ross Baker, a politics professor at Rutgers University. “He’s betting that the gilding of the city is not easily erased, not quickly or easily at any rate.”
Paramount among the changes is his drive to build a grand ballroom in place of the East Wing, which he razed.
The project faces legal hiccups and, once constructed, will not be around long enough for Mr. Trump to enjoy it during his term, leaving it as a visual emblem of his presidency.
“I always said I was going to do something about the ballroom because they should have one,” Mr. Trump said last year. “So, we’ll be leaving it. It’ll be a great legacy project, and I think it’ll be special.”
During a dinner with ballroom donors, Mr. Trump placed himself in a line of former presidents who transformed the White House grounds.
He pointed to James Monroe, who installed the South Portico, and Andrew Jackson, who built the portico on the north side, while Theodore Roosevelt added the West Wing and Harry S. Truman put in his namesake balcony.
Mr. Trump is also making big changes to official maps, renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America and Lake Ontario as Lake America.
He’s threatened to annex Canada, Greenland and Venezuela as U.S. states or territories.
Further, the Treasury Department rolled out a plan to put Mr. Trump’s signature on paper money to mark America’s 250th birthday.
Mr. Trump, a former reality TV star, is keenly aware of the power of visual symbols, and his push to leave a lasting imprint on maps and monuments coincides with the waning years of his ability to reshape the country and world as president.
Since descending his golden escalator in 2015, he dominated U.S. discourse like few politicians in history.
Now, he is battling approval numbers stuck in the low 30s and a recalcitrant Islamic regime in Iran that seems intent on dragging out another Middle East war.
Canada recently walked away from trade negotiations with the U.S., betting that time in the tariff penalty box is worth the defense of its national pride.
Also, Mr. Trump recently turned 80, so thinking about posterity is normal, according to Craig Shirley, a presidential historian and biographer of President Ronald Reagan.
“When a man gets to that age, and he reaches the pinnacle of success, he wants to be well thought of, and that goes for all presidents,” he said.
Democrats have challenged the ballroom in court, saying it required congressional approval, and warn that private donors will seek special favors after funding the project.
They also object to the project on personal grounds, saying it was designed to glorify the current president.
“This ballroom is no gift to the American people – it’s congressional Republicans’ personal gift to Donald J. Trump,” Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, said in the floor speech earlier this year.
Mr. Trump is forging ahead with construction and isn’t stopping with the ballroom.
He installed large flagpoles on either side of the White House, renovated the Lincoln Bathroom with marble and paved over the grass in the Rose Garden.
Beyond the White House, Mr. Trump is beautifying parts of the nation’s capital, restoring defunct fountains and launching an embattled effort to restore the Reflecting Pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
The administration is engaged in a legal battle to affix Mr. Trump’s name to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which is undergoing renovations at Mr. Trump’s direction.
It is quite the building blitz, but it is not unusual for presidents to leave a lasting impact through legacy projects, especially if they left an imprint on U.S. culture.
Mr. Shirley said the nation’s capital was named for President George Washington when the founding father was alive, and entities were named after Kennedy following his assassination, meaning renamings can occur during a person’s time in office or later.
Prominence and popularity are factors, too. The airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, was renamed after Mr. Trump because he is well-liked by locals.
“There’s certainly power to being popular. Not much named after Richard Nixon, right? There’s not much named after James Buchanan,” Mr. Shirley said.
The White House said Mr. Trump will go down in history as “the most successful and consequential president in our lifetime” and his beautification projects will leave the White House and the nation’s capital in “excellent condition” for generations.
“His successes on behalf of the American people will be imprinted upon the fabric of America and will be felt by every other White House that comes after him,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle said. “Thanks to the Builder-in-Chief, no other president has done more to beautify our nation’s interior than President Trump.”
Some of Mr. Trump’s projects are divisive.
Public opinion polls show the American public is not enthusiastic about Mr. Trump’s plan to install a 250-foot-tall arch near the Arlington Memorial Bridge in the style of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
If built, however, the project could outlast the ebb and flow of popular opinion.
Decades ago, there was a campaign to tear down the White House-adjacent Executive Office Building as a “Victorian monstrosity,” according to Mr. Baker.
“A 200-foot-tall arch,” he said, “is not easily torn down even if people hate it.”
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