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A federal judge weighing the future of an expansive Washington park\u00a0insisted this week\u00a0she had no intention of becoming\u00a0Amy Poehler, the actress who spent seven seasons memorably playing the head of a local parks and recreation department.<\/p>\n
But President\u00a0Donald Trump\u00a0might be interested in the role.<\/p>\n
Shortly after the\u00a0United States and Iran exchanged fire\u00a0on Thursday, Trump made a quick jaunt to the National Mall to\u00a0review the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool\u00a0that he ordered repainted a color he describes as \u201cAmerican flag blue.\u201d<\/p>\n
The project has been on his mind lately. During an hour-plus speech Monday to small-business owners, Trump spent about nine minutes talking about the paint job, detailing the granite floor and boasting that he whittled the renovation\u2019s cost to $1.9 million from what he said was an initial $350 million estimate.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s next project might be East Potomac Park, home to an affordable, accessible public golf course with views of the Washington Monument.<\/p>\n
The Republican president has talked of transforming it into a posh \u201cU.S. Open-caliber course.\u201d Signs were posted this week warning of a disruption and preservation advocates took the government to court as debris dumped there from the White House East Wing demolition\u00a0tested positive\u00a0for lead.<\/p>\n
By late Friday,\u00a0the nonprofit that operates the course\u00a0said it would continue managing the space until the National Park Service begins a \u201chistoric restoration.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the White House told a planning agency that it would\u00a0cost taxpayers at least $7.5 million\u00a0to follow through on Trump\u2019s plan to paint the granite\u00a0Eisenhower Executive Office Building\u00a0white.<\/p>\n
And that was just this week in Washington\u2019s extreme makeover.<\/p>\n
Over the past year, Trump has\u00a0bulldozed the East Wing\u00a0to make way for a ballroom. His name was added to the facades of the\u00a0U.S. Institute of Peace\u00a0and the\u00a0Kennedy Center, which he plans to close for a\u00a0two-year renovation. His face adorns a banner at the\u00a0Department of Justice\u2019s headquarters, among others. He is pushing for a\u00a0triumphal arch\u00a0near Arlington Cemetery and has closed parks, including Lafayette Square across from the White House, for a rehab.<\/p>\n
Trump is guaranteeing himself a lasting imprint on a city where he won just 6.5% of the vote in 2024. He is flexing extraordinary executive power and offering fresh insight into how he spends his time, perhaps a president\u2019s most valuable asset.<\/p>\n
As the Washington projects unfolded this week, the ceasefire in\u00a0Iran\u00a0was at risk of unraveling, motor club AAA said the average price of a gallon of gas surpassed $4.50 and elections provided new evidence of Democratic enthusiasm heading into the November elections.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not a zero-sum game but obviously all presidents have limited amounts of capital they can use and limited amounts of attention that they have to give,\u201d said presidential historian Julian Zelizer of Princeton University. \u201cAnd he\u2019s deciding, in a moment of war, a moment of economic instability, that this is a priority.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump rejects such concerns.<\/p>\n
Asked at the Reflecting Pool why he was focused on the project given the U.S. military action in Iran, he said, \u201cOur country is about beauty, cleanliness, safety, great people. Not a filthy capital.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Republicans defending slim congressional majorities, it is not so simple. Many would prefer to talk about policy accomplishments, including tax cuts, rather than multimillion-dollar Washington construction projects.<\/p>\n
While few directly criticize Trump, there is an acknowledgment that the party needs to confront economic realities.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of Americans are very worried about the cost of living and we need to address it,\u201d Sen.\u00a0John Kennedy, R-La., said recently.<\/p>\n
A Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll conducted in late April found that 52% percent of Americans oppose Trump\u2019s planned arch. That includes about 6 in 10 independents. Some 51% of Republicans favor it.<\/p>\n
Americans oppose the ballroom by a 2-to-1 margin, driven largely by Democrats and independents. About 2 in 10 Republicans oppose the project, according to the poll. The poll did not find a notable shift in support of the ballroom after a shooting at last month\u2019s White House Correspondents\u2019 Association Dinner. Trump has cited that incident in his push for a secure facility, something he did not mention when he initially ordered the demolition of the East Wing.<\/p>\n
Trump is showing no sign of backing away from any of the projects. In a sign of the GOP\u2019s loyalty to him, Republican senators\u00a0added $1 billion\u00a0in White House security upgrades for the ballroom to an unrelated bill this week. Trump initially said taxpayer money would not be needed.<\/p>\n
In a city where historic preservation is often sacred, the pace of change has been dizzying.<\/p>\n
Rebecca Miller, the executive director of DC Preservation League, has spent 23 years at the organization, which sued to stop the golf course takeover and joined a coalition attempting to force the Kennedy Center to comply with preservation laws. She said her organization has worked with administrations of both parties and called the Trump moves \u201chighly unusual.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the problems that we have right now is an administration that seems to think that it can just plow ahead without any input,\u201d she said. \u201cThese assets are owned by the people of the United States. They\u2019re not anybody\u2019s personal portfolio.\u201d<\/p>\n
White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said Trump is \u201claser-focused on lowering costs for working families, deporting illegal criminals, keeping our cities safe, beautifying our nation\u2019s capital, and protecting our national security by ensuring Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon all at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is not the first time a White House has taken an interest in Washington\u2019s appearance.<\/p>\n
During\u00a0Lyndon Johnson\u2019s\u00a0administration, first lady Lady Bird Johnson oversaw beautification efforts that included planting trees and flowers throughout the District of Columbia.<\/p>\n
Her efforts were sometimes derided as distractions from other pressing issues, such as the\u00a0Vietnam War. But she implemented them in coordination with local officials.<\/p>\n
\u201cLady Bird Johnson was trying to bring out the natural beauty of Washington,\u201d said Mark Updegrove, chairman of the LBJ Foundation and a presidential historian. \u201cDonald Trump is trying to remake the nation\u2019s capital in his own image.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s assertion of power over Washington, including the\u00a0continued deployment of National Guard\u00a0troops, has animated the city\u2019s Democratic primary next month for key local offices, including mayor and delegate to Congress.<\/p>\n
The first question at a forum for mayoral candidates this week focused on how to protect the\u00a0Home Rule Act, the 1973 law that gave the city limited self-government. The candidates said they would stand up to Trump as needed, though one contender, Vincent Orange, noted that national Democrats had also failed the district.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe two times that we had an opportunity at statehood, it was the Democrats who let us down,\u201d he said, referring to failed congressional attempts to make the city a state with full rights of representation.<\/p>\n
In an interview, Janeese Lewis George, a D.C. Council member and top candidate in the mayor\u2019s race, said city officials need to do a better job of making their case in Congress for statehood. She said Trump\u2019s impact on the city is broader than the renovations, as she referred to the troop deployments as a \u201cfederal occupation\u201d and noted the fallout from immigration enforcement activity and cuts to the federal workforce.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe people of our city are afraid,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s the mayor\u2019s job to really let the nation know that D.C. has uniquely been left vulnerable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tom Davis, a Virginia Republican who often supported the city\u2019s autonomy when he was a congressman, said the renovations offer an \u201copportunity to bring some money into the city and spruce up stuff that you wouldn\u2019t have had otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut this is tough,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is not a city that is in love with the president.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
#Judge #weighing #future #golf #doesnt #Amy #Poehler #Trump #remakes #parks<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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