Key facts
- Trump initially said he and wealthy donors would pay for the estimated $400 million ballroom, but Senate Republicans later unsuccessfully sought $1 billion from Congress.
- The White House has not released a full list of the ballroom project's donors.
- Chief Justice John Roberts said in a dissent that the ballroom project was "likely unlawful."
- Trump has purged the Kennedy Center's leadership and appointed a board that added his name to the edifice.
- Trump signed an executive order in July ordering temporary signage at the National Museum of American History correcting "inaccurate information presented in the Museum."
- Veterans have sued to block a planned triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery, arguing it would destroy the historic sight line.
President Donald Trump is remaking Washington with a series of unilateral changes that opponents have challenged in court and called a power grab, according to a Reuters report dated November 2. The projects range from a planned White House ballroom to a renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and a purge of the Kennedy Center's leadership.
Trump announced in April that he was remodeling the reflecting pool, saying the project would cost up to $2 million. His administration pursued a more-than-$16 million renovation on the 2,000-foot pool, and contractors not selected through competitive bidding worked to finish it by the July 4 holiday. Trump declared the project complete in June, but the pool soon showed peeling paint and algae growth. Trump and other administration officials blamed vandals without citing evidence, and authorities arrested David Hearn, a former US Olympic canoeist, who denied the charges. In a court filing, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro and Assistant US Attorney Michael Spence backed away from the case and blamed "a rushed and flawed installation process." A judge dismissed the charges in October and ruled that prosecutors could not bring them again.
Trump says a planned 90,000-square-foot White House ballroom will be "the greatest of its kind ever built." He initially said he and wealthy donors would pay for the estimated $400 million project, but Senate Republicans later unsuccessfully sought $1 billion from Congress for an underground bunker and security features. The White House has not released a full list of donors. Preservationists say Trump exceeded his authority by demolishing the historic East Wing to make room for the structure. The US Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling in August, allowed Trump to continue construction while he challenges a judicial order that would halt much of the development. In a dissent, Chief Justice John Roberts said the project was "likely unlawful."
Since taking office in 2025, Trump has purged the Kennedy Center's leadership, changed its programming and appointed a board that added his name to the edifice. A US district court judge ordered in May that the center remove his name. The board subsequently voted on a new plan to put Trump's name back on the building, but a judge rejected that plan in September, and the board decided the same day to shut down the venue for up to two years for repairs and an at-least $257 million renovation. December's Kennedy Center Honors will be held at Washington's Capital One Arena.