President Trump Focuses on Construction Projects in Washington

President Trump has taken a personal interest in construction and renovation projects around Washington. He told a group of small-business owners in the East Room of the White House that he had the Reflecting Pool sandblasted and its bottom coated in a color called American Flag Blue after determining the granite was leaking.

Trump said he drew on his experience building swimming pools and worked with one of his former contractors on the project. " Trump paved over the Rose Garden last year to install a concrete patio. Few aspects of the presidency appear to engage Trump more than these construction sites.

Pool photos have shown him looking out from the Oval Office at a ballroom under construction atop the remnants of the East Wing.

Republicans added a billion-dollar earmark for East Wing security enhancements to an immigration-enforcement funding bill. In late March on Air Force One, Trump displayed a poster of Corinthian columns planned for the ballroom and told reporters the project was important because it would last a long time.

Trump has ordered his motorcade to survey the city for modifications. He had piles of construction rubble from the White House deposited on a historic public golf course in East Potomac Park. This past weekend he attempted to close the course to convert it into a luxury golf club.

Late last week a man from Florida climbed the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge, which connects areas of Washington with differing economic conditions. He unfurled a banner expressing shame and grief about the war in Iran and the threat of artificial intelligence, then remained on the bridge for three days.

Police diverted traffic and attempted to negotiate his descent while he set up a tent on one of the arches. While the man was on the bridge, Secret Service agents shot and wounded an armed man outside the Washington Monument. A teenage bystander was hit in the crossfire.

Fireworks from a Nationals game occurred nearby as onlookers watched the protester.

Susie Wiles, Trump's chief of staff, directed Cabinet members to limit international travel and concentrate on the domestic agenda ahead of midterms. He gestured to Dr. Mehmet Oz, who runs the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, while promising no tax on Social Security and lower prescription drug prices.

" Secretary of State Marco Rubio filled in for press secretary Karoline Leavitt at a White House briefing and discussed Iran and maritime operations in the Strait of Hormuz. Trump later stated that Project Freedom was on hold as negotiations continued.

On Wednesday Trump received four fighters in the Oval Office to unveil a custom belt for a UFC bout scheduled for the South Lawn on his 80th birthday. He displayed renderings of the stage and fighting ring and said the event would be free and open to the country.