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In his 2nd word successful office, President Trump has initiated a D.C. makeover, attempting to permission his people connected the superior and prompting aggregate ineligible battles.
Mr. Trump, a erstwhile existent property developer, has overseen the demolition of the East Wing of the White House to marque mode for a monolithic ballroom, tried to alteration the sanction of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and completed a resurfacing task astatine the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool that rapidly faced setbacks.
Here's a look astatine wherever 5 of Mr. Trump's projects basal and however overmuch they cost.
Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool
The Trump medication announced plans to resurface the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool successful April and overgarment it "American emblem blue" astatine the president's request. The past clip the reflecting excavation underwent a important renovation was from 2010 to 2012 during the Obama administration. At the time, the authorities tapped $34 cardinal from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to screen the outgo of the project.
President Trump displays a rendering of his projected renovations to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool during an lawsuit successful the Oval Office connected June 3.
Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images
The cost: Mr. Trump estimated it would instrumentality a week and outgo astir $1.5 million. Atlantic Industrial Coatings, the Virginia-based institution hired for the project, completed the restoration successful aboriginal June for $14.7 million, according to records, much than 9 times Mr. Trump's archetypal estimate. The medication spent different $1.7 cardinal connected a filtration system. Neither declaration for the reflecting excavation was taxable to a competitory bidding process.
National Park Service unit vacuum algae from the Reflecting Pool successful Washington, DC.
Photo by Pete Kiehart/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Where it stands now: Images showed the reflecting pool's h2o turning green successful little than 2 weeks aft Mr. Trump announced that the tract had reopened to "rave reviews."
A spokesperson for the Interior Department said proviso lines that had been dormant for 2 months are to blasted for the residual algae causing the colour change.
Days later, chunks of peeling overgarment from the bluish coating were spotted successful the water. Mr. Trump claimed successful a Truth Social post, without immoderate evidence, that the Reflecting Pool was vandalized. Five radical were arrested for vandalism and 5 others were served citations, according to the U.S. Park Police.
Bare patches are disposable wherever recently applied bluish overgarment has peeled from the bottommost of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool successful Washington, D.C.
Ken Cedeno /AFP via Getty Images
White House ballroom
The Trump medication announced successful July 2025 plans to physique a 90,000-square-foot ballroom that could spot 1,000 guests. CBS News obtained architectural renderings of the task successful September and weeks later, the White House's East Wing was demolished to commencement connected the ballroom construction. The Trump medication hired Clark Construction arsenic the project's contractor.
The Trump medication has argued the projected ballroom would supply information assurances for ample gatherings with the president and different distinguished guests. Administration officials amplified their statement aft April's shooting astatine the White House Correspondents' Association dinner and an alleged foiled crippled to onslaught the White House UFC event this month.
An overhead presumption of the operation tract for President Trump's White House ballroom.
Aaron Schwartz / Getty Images
The cost: The task was initially estimated to outgo $200 cardinal but has accrued importantly little than a twelvemonth aft it was archetypal announced. Mr. Trump has since said operation would outgo astir $400 cardinal and insisted it would beryllium "taxpayer-free" and funded by him and different donors, including tech giants specified arsenic Google, Amazon and Nvidia, defence contractors and different ample corporations.
However, a task summary obtained by The Washington Post showed ballroom operation would outgo an estimated $600 million, with astir fractional coming from taxpayer-funded departments, including the Secret Service, White House Military Office and the Executive Residence of the White House.
Rendering of the White House State Ballroom interior
Where it stands now: The task has been embroiled successful a ineligible conflict successful national courts. The National Trust for Historic Preservation successful the U.S. sued the Trump medication successful December for demolishing the East Wing "without immoderate reappraisal whatsoever."
The White House is waiting for an appeals tribunal to determine whether operation tin proceed aft a little tribunal ruled that Congress indispensable o.k. the project.
President Trump holds a rendering of the planned White House Ballroom hold during a gathering with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte successful the Oval Office connected Oct. 22, 2025.
Aaron Schwartz / CNP / Bloomberg via Getty Images / Aaron Schwartz - Pool via CNP
"Arc de Trump"
In October 2025, President Trump told a radical of donors for the White House ballroom task that helium would besides beryllium gathering a 250–foot triumphal arch that resembles the Arc de Triomphe successful Paris. The operation would beryllium built successful the mediate of Memorial Circle betwixt the entrance of the Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial. Construction could instrumentality 2 to 3 years, according to documents published connected the Federal Register.
When CBS News elder White House analogous Ed O'Keefe asked President Trump who the arch is for, Mr. Trump simply said: "Me." The White House added that the arch would commemorate the 250th day of the U.S.
Rendering of President Trump's triumphal arch that would beryllium betwixt the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington Cemetery.
Interior Department to Commission connected Fine Arts
The cost: The White House has not disclosed the full outgo for the arch. However, immoderate payer wealth has already been earmarked for the project. In its spending plan, the National Endowment for the Humanities, an autarkic authorities agency, allocated $15 cardinal successful payer dollars for the arch.
The existent terms tag is apt to beryllium overmuch higher: In November 2025, Axios reported that the arch would outgo an estimated $100 million.
Where it stands now: Critics accidental the arch would predominate the skyline and operation implicit the 99-foot Lincoln Memorial. A group of veterans and a historiographer sued the Trump medication to artifact construction, but a national tribunal has yet to intervene.
The National Park Service said the task could instrumentality astir a twelvemonth to implicit connected an accelerated timeline, with two, 10-hour shifts per day, and "several operation cranes, forklifts, skid steers, drill rigs, and factual pumping systems."
A exemplary of President Trump's projected arch to commemorate the country's 250th day is seen connected a array astatine a nationalist gathering of the Commission of Fine Arts connected April 16.
Andrew Harnik / Getty Images
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Mr. Trump has made important changes astatine the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts during his 2nd term. He ousted respective committee members, installed himself arsenic chairman and projected an "anti-woke" imaginativeness for its future, starring to respective artists canceling performances. The committee voted successful December to alteration the institution's sanction to the Trump-Kennedy Center, and a fewer months aboriginal announced it would close its doors for 2 years for renovations that were slated to statesman this summer.
Construction workers physique scaffolding adjacent the motion for the Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts connected June 12.
Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images
The cost: Last year, Mr. Trump secured $257 cardinal done the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to reconstruct the Kennedy Center. The taxation chopped and spending instrumentality states that backing is disposable until September 2029 for expenses related to "capital repair, restoration, attraction backlog and information structures" astatine the Kennedy Center. Repairs see upgrading theatre seats, repairing h2o harm and drainage issues, replacing soffit panels and addressing structural issues with the center's parking garage.
"This is simply a once-in-a-lifetime accidental for the center," Matt Floca, enforcement manager and main operating officer, said successful a connection to CBS News. "All of these improvements that we request to marque are real, are needed."
The Kennedy Center did not disclose the full estimated outgo for the renovations.
A tarp covers the recently removed sanction of President Trump from the facade of the Kennedy Center connected June 13.
Aaron Schwartz / Bloomberg via Getty Images
Where it stands now: In May, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled successful favour of Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat who serves connected the Kennedy Center's Board of Trustees, aft she sued to artifact the sanction alteration and the closure. The justice stopped the program to temporarily adjacent the halfway and ruled the committee acted unlawfully erstwhile it added Mr. Trump's sanction to the building.
"The Kennedy Center's integrated statute makes crystal wide that the Center is to beryllium named for President Kennedy, and it cannot carnivore immoderate different ceremonial sanction oregon nationalist memorial based connected the Board's unilateral say-so. Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and lone Congress tin alteration it," Cooper wrote successful his opinion.
Dozens of radical gathered extracurricular the Kennedy Center connected June 13 to ticker crews scrape the president's name disconnected the building.
After the judge's ruling, the center's committee of trustees voted to make a caller endowment successful Mr. Trump's sanction that they said was intended to admit his "significant contributions and dedication" to the Kennedy Center. A Kennedy Center authoritative said the endowment volition rise backstage funds that volition supplement the wealth secured by Mr. Trump and Congress for renovations.
Lafayette Park
The National Park Service announced that portions of the parkland would close successful January due to the fact that of "serious concerns astir information for operation instrumentality and anterior vandalism associated with nationalist protests successful caller years." In May, Mr. Trump posted connected societal media that helium had contributed funds to physique fountains and to rebuild parts of Lafayette Park successful beforehand of the White House.
"That's the entranceway to the White House, and it was an embarrassment," Mr. Trump said.
With the White House successful the background, operation instrumentality is parked successful Lafayette Square arsenic portion of a renovation project.
Kevin Carter / Getty Images
The cost: The New York Times reported successful April that the Trump medication initially agreed to wage the authorities contractor successful complaint of the ballroom renovation, Clark Construction, $11.9 cardinal to bash the job, but aboriginal accrued the declaration to $17.4 cardinal to screen further costs.
Where it stands now: The task was expected to beryllium completed by May 31, but a spokesperson for the Department of the Interior, which oversees the park, told CBS News that the restoration task is inactive successful advancement and that "final figures for the task are unavailable astatine this time."
Arden Farhi contributed to this report.
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