Piece by Piece the New York Real Estate guy is moving to transform the capital city of the United States into HIS Vision …..
President Trump’s focus on repair and beautification projects around Washington, D.C., risks backfiring on Republicans ahead of the midterms as the issue of affordability takes center stage across the country.
Just this week, Trump began an unrelated executive order signing and an energy announcement in the Oval Office talking about the completion of repairs of the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall, while touting a number of fountain restorations around the city.
Additionally, the administration announced it will spend $5 million to regild the four gold-plated Arts of War and Arts of Peace equestrian statues near the Lincoln Memorial.
Backers of the projects say the efforts will pay long-term dividends for the District and that it is possible for the administration to focus on the projects and affordability at the same time.
But the president’s critics say the efforts are out of touch and will not have a real impact on Americans living outside of the Beltway.
“I was in North Carolina last week, and over the weekend and I didn’t hear anybody talking about reflecting pools. I did hear them talk about what they spend at grocery stores,” said Republican strategist Doug Heye.
“When you are holding press gaggles in front of a ballroom construction site that no one asked for, you’re proactively sending the signal to voters: ‘I don’t know what’s important to you, but here’s what’s important to me,’” said Heye, a former spokesperson for the Republican National Committee.
“Go into any state that has targeted races, whether it’s North Carolina, Maine, Ohio, Texas, … and ask them, ‘Hey, do you think that we need a triumphant arch to be built on the Mall?’ and they’re going to look at you like you’ve just landed from Venus,” he added…..
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His critics see the project as evidence of something else: how Trump has bulldozed through regulations, process and long-held norms to impose his will as he remakes Washington.
“It illustrates how vulnerable our shared cultural landscape heritage is in Washington under this administration,” said Charles Birnbaum, leader of a local advocacy organization that sued to stop Trump’s changes to the Reflecting Pool. The Trump administration’s contractors finished the project before a federal judge could rule in the case.
Major construction projects in the nation’s capital have long been governed by a web of federal commissions, planning boards and laws requiring public input, creating checks on any president seeking to transform the city.
But in his second term, Trump has treated Washington as a canvas, reshaping landmarks and public spaces according to his own vision.
He demolished the White House’s East Wing to build his planned ballroom, fenced off Lafayette Square outside the White House and undertook dozens of other renovations to local parks and sites. He is also pursuing a 250-foot-tall triumphal arch, a large statuary garden and an overhaul of the city’s historic public golf course. He has fired holdovers on federal review panels and installed deputies who have acceded to his projects with minimal oversight and unprecedented speed.
The president’s supporters — and even some Trump critics who live in Washington — have credited him for cleaning up parts of the city and restoring long-decrepit fountains in many major parks. Several Democratic lawmakers have acknowledged that too much red tape has slowed necessary renovation work.
But Trump’s approach has triggered a growing backlash from preservationists, members of Congress and voters across the country, who say that he is exceeding his authority by unilaterally remaking public spaces….
image…President Donald Trump talks to reporters about his proposed White House ballroom next to the worksite on May 19….Chip Somodevilla/Getty
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