By Steve Holland
WASHINGTON, June 5 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump is pursuing an ambitious revamp of Washington, from a $400 million White House ballroom to a 250-foot (76-meter) arch and a new promenade for the Lincoln Memorial.
Trump's building blitz is among the most dramatic by a U.S. president since Theodore Roosevelt championed a structural overhaul of the National Mall in the early 1900s. In the 1950s, Harry Truman gutted and rebuilt the White House.
Here are some of Trump's passion projects, which have drawn sharp criticism from many Americans concerned about pocketbook issues and the preservation of historic landmarks.
WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM
Trump has said the 90,000-square-foot ballroom now under construction will be "the greatest of its kind ever built," matching the White House in height and scale.
The president said he and wealthy donors would pay for the estimated $400 million project, but then he requested Congress provide $1 billion in taxpayer money for security upgrades. Senate Republicans, with an eye on the November midterm elections, said no.
Trump says the building will have four-inch-thick windows and a drone base on the roof "to protect all of Washington." It will also extend six stories underground and include a military bunker.
"This is really for other presidents. This is not for me," Trump said, predicting it would be completed in his final year in office.
The ballroom, which will seat 1,000 guests, has faced public backlash. Preservationists and opponents assert that Trump exceeded his authority when he demolished the historic East Wing, which housed the offices of the first lady and the White House movie theater, to make room for the structure.
In April, an appeals court allowed the Trump administration to continue construction and set a June hearing to review a Washington judge’s order to halt the project.
After a shooting at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner in April, Trump said security concerns provided more justification for the ballroom.
GARDEN OF AMERICAN HEROES
Trump, who has talked about establishing a National Garden of American Heroes since his first term, announced on social media on May 15 that the project will be developed at West Potomac Park along the Potomac River to mark the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence this summer.
Trump said the park would feature statues of the country's founding fathers, members of the military, religious leaders, civil rights champions, athletes, artists and entertainers.
KENNEDY CENTER
Congress authorized the construction and naming of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to honor the Democratic president who was assassinated in 1963. That name went unchallenged for decades - until a Trump-appointed board voted last year to rename it the Trump–Kennedy Center.
The storied cultural center saw a flurry of show cancellations and slumping ticket sales after Trump's takeover.
In February, Trump announced that the property will close for two years beginning July 4 for a major overhaul.
But a judge's ruling in late May blocked that plan and ordered the removal of his name. In response, Trump said he will transfer control of the center to Congress. In the meantime, lawyers for the center have ordered staff to remove Trump's name from the facade and all literature.
AMERICAN FLAG BLUE FOR REFLECTING POOL
Trump says his refurbishment of Washington's Reflecting Pool is nearly complete. The site abuts the Lincoln Memorial, where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963.
The bottom of the pool has been repainted in a color Trump calls "American flag blue."
INDEPENDENCE ARCH
Across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial lies a nondescript highway roundabout upon which Trump wants to build what he calls the Independence Arch - an arch reminiscent of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, except much bigger.
The height of the arch, with eagle statues and a Lady Liberty-type figure on top, has been estimated at 250 feet. That is higher than the Lincoln Memorial and not far off the size of the U.S. Capitol, which at 288 feet can be seen across much of Washington.
By contrast, the Arc de Triomphe in Paris is 164 feet high.
"When completed, it will be, without question, the Greatest Arch of them all!" Trump said in a social media post on June 4.
Whether the arch will actually be built to that height remains unclear, as there is a possibility it could interfere with the flight path of southbound planes on the final approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport a few miles away.
The National Capital Planning Commission advanced the project on June 4 while asking for more information about how the structure would impact flight paths.
LINCOLN MEMORIAL PROMENADE
Trump announced on June 4 that he plans to have a "promenade" built onto the Lincoln Memorial to serve as a bridge for foot traffic over two roads that encircle the monument to the Civil War president. Details were sparse as to how the project would be financed.
TEMPORARY UFC ARENA ON THE SOUTH LAWN
To mark his 80th birthday on June 14, Trump will watch a UFC fight on the South Lawn of the White House. He authorized close friend Dana White, president of Ultimate Fighting Championship, to construct a UFC arena, and it now dominates the skyline behind the executive mansion.
Trump teased on social media that he might leave the structure up permanently, but then admitted it was only temporary.
THE OVAL OFFICE
Trump embarked on his first major redecoration project at the White House when he moved back into the Oval Office in January 2025.
He transformed the storied room with gold accents and statuettes, portraits of famous Americans pulled from storage - including some who are not easily identifiable.
Busts of Abraham Lincoln and Benjamin Franklin are now situated on tables near his desk. The level of bric-a-brac can give the room a cluttered, old library feel compared to the styles of previous presidents.
THE ROSE GARDEN AND WHITE HOUSE GROUNDS
Outside the Oval Office, Trump replaced the Rose Garden's iconic grass lawn with a white stone patio and umbrella-covered tables to give it a patio style much like Trump has at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida. He said the stone was needed because women wearing high heels would sink into the soil.
Trump also added statues of U.S. independence heroes Alexander Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin in the Rose Garden, along with an artwork called "Freedom’s Charge."
(Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Ross Colvin and Alistair Bell)
