President Donald Trump’s background in real estate, as well as his unique eye for interior design, is front and center during his second administration as he embarks on ambitious projects at the White House and beyond.
As a real estate developer, reality TV star, and branding maven, Trump plastered his last name on his buildings at will. As president, he is poised to similarly leave his mark on the White House and Washington, D.C. from his demolition of the East Wing to make way for his $300 million, 90,000-square-foot ballroom, expected to be completed before the end of his second administration in 2029, to his paving over the lawn of the Rose Garden with stone for his $2 million patio, inaugurated this summer during his first Rose Garden Club dinner with congressional Republicans.
Although all presidents put their personal touch on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave when they call it home, Trump’s has been a Midas touch, not only because of his “24-karat” gold molding additions, but also because he has been able to raise unprecedented amounts of money to support his projects.
“President Trump is working 24/7 to Make America Great Again, including his historic beautification of the White House, at no taxpayer expense,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle told the Washington Examiner. “These long-needed upgrades will benefit generations of future presidents and American visitors to the People’s House.”
The result is legacy-making projects, whose price tags include political concerns before next year’s midterm elections, in addition to legal and ethical consequences.
“He likes to build things. That’s in his DNA. I am not sure how much he is thinking about his legacy, but I do know that he likes to build things,” Republican strategist John Feehery told the Washington Examiner.
Republican strategist Doug Heye added: “These are not mutually exclusive!”
But for presidential historian David Pietrusza, “In all honesty, I can only think of the gospels, of ‘whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear to men beautiful, but within are full of dead men’s bones, and of all filthiness.’”
Ronald Reagan biographer Craig Shirley defended Trump’s projects, adamant that he does not “see what Trump does as a problem.”
“Trump likes to leave his imprimatur, so what? The Democrat opposition should have more important things on their minds like the demise of the Democrat party,” Shirley told the Washington Examiner. “If the Democrats ever regain power, they can simply rename whatever structure they want.”
Elsewhere around the White House, Trump has created a presidential walk of fame along the West Colonnade, proudly visible to tour groups, in which a photograph of an autopen represents former President Joe Biden.
In October, the president also renovated the green tiles in the previously art deco-inspired Lincoln Bedroom bathroom with more modern Statuary marble, using donor funds.
Earlier in June, he also placed two 88-foot flagpoles on the North and South Lawns, spending $100,000 of his own money on the “personal project,” as he had with his gold finishes and the Presidential Walk of Fame.
At the same time, his administration promised a federal judge last month not to start repainting the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which – unlike the White House, the Capitol, and the Supreme Court – is protected by the National Historic Preservation Act, from grey to white, pending legal challenges, until March.
“No, this is not Home Depot stuff. This is not Home Depot,” Trump told Fox News in November of his gold touches in response to claims they are from the home improvement retail company.
Beyond the gates of the White House
Elsewhere around Washington, Trump gave $257 million in federal funding to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for restorations and refurbishments through his March Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful executive order and July One Big Beautiful Bill, so, regardless of the White House’s argument, at the taxpayers’ expense. The president inspected the Kennedy Center’s progress this past October.
Trump’s inspection came after the District of Columbia Council approved a new $3.7 billion stadium in D.C. on the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium site in September as part of a joint venture with the NFL franchise Washington Commanders, which is anticipated to be completed by 2030. Though it was Biden who transferred the federal land to the city, Trump reportedly wants the stadium named after him, making a similar quip at the Kennedy Center this week.
“You have a big event on Friday at the Trump-Kennedy Center, oh, excuse me,” Trump said on Thursday, referring to the FIFA World Cup draw.
Those projects do not include Trump’s proposed $100 million Arc de Trump, a triumphal arch akin to France’s Arc de Triomphe, near the Lincoln Memorial to commemorate the country’s 250th anniversary. Still, it is unlikely to be completed by then. Trump has displayed models of the structure in multiple sizes on the Resolute Desk.
The projects, particularly the ballroom, have opened Trump up to criticism, especially after the president said the ballroom would not require the destruction of the East Wing; however, in October, he began razing the building to the ground. The ballroom has also been criticized for offering special interests more opportunities to influence Trump after donors contributed a record-breaking $245 million to his inaugural committee, and their names were not made public.
In response, the White House disclosed the names of the ballroom’s 37 donors: Amazon, Apple, Coinbase, Comcast, Google, Lockheed Martin, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Palantir Technologies, T-Mobile, and Union Pacific Railroad. All of whom have business interests with Trump’s administration, including Stefan Brodie, a pardon-seeking industrial metals investor.
The ballroom, too, has been scrutinized for its lack of approval, despite being announced in July. The White House will only submit plans to the National Capital Planning Commission this month, after Trump replaced members of the board in October and his architect, allegedly due to a disagreement over the building’s size, this week.
More broadly, it is the projects’ optics that could be most problematic for Trump. For example, his preoccupation with them before next year’s midterm elections, when voters have repeatedly told pollsters the economy and affordability are their top priorities, as well as the split-screen between the projects and the Department of Government Efficiency.
“Whenever changes are proposed to historic buildings, or new ones are proposed, controversies almost inevitably arise,” Republican strategist Duf Sundheim told the Washington Examiner. “Such controversies seldom change the course of events. Affordability remains the No. 1 issue.”
Republican strategist Charlie Black commended the new football stadium, describing it as “as very popular across the board,” even though he conceded Trump “has nothing to do with it.”
“A lot of people think the Kennedy Center needs refurbishing, so give him credit for that, but it does not relate to the average American,” the founding chairman of the Prime Policy Group told the Washington Examiner. “The other projects are appropriate for him to do, but have no political impact. Republican fortunes will rise or fall next year, depending on how the voters perceive the economy, not this stuff. Right now, a majority do not like the economy.”
But, former Kansas Republican Rep. Timothy Huelskamp, a one-time chairman of the House Tea Party Caucus, stood by Trump and DOGE.
“DOGE has exposed and reduced the monstrous and immoral bloat of the federal government,” Huelskamp told the Washington Examiner.
TRUMP CAN’T SHAKE THE AFFORDABILITY ‘HOAX’
Nevertheless, that has not prevented Democrats from taking advantage of the projects, including Trump’s appointment of a new ballroom architect.
“Donald Trump’s priorities are clear as day: Yesterday, Trump hired a new architect for his lavish $350 million ballroom after disagreements with the first architect — meanwhile, Americans are grappling with skyrocketing prices, a stagnant job market, and devastating cuts to healthcare,” the Democratic National Committee told reporters. “Billionaires are bankrolling the ballroom construction, and Trump is busy finding even more ways to return the favor. It’s no wonder his approval rating has taken a nosedive in recent weeks, with voters increasingly disapproving of Trump’s handling of the economy and his failure to tackle their most important issues.”
