President Donald Trump has undertaken a series of projects across Washington, D.C., in his second term, including demolishing the White House East Wing and paving the over Rose Garden.
Now, two of those projects are seeing major developments.
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Kennedy Center to close for renovations
The Trump-aligned Kennedy Center board voted Tuesday to shut down the building for a two-year renovation.
The board ordered the center closed immediately, citing safety concerns about the aging building.
But Trump says the roughly $250 million renovation won’t begin until an appeals court rules on the fight over putting his name on the building.
A federal judge has blocked that name change, ruling that the board doesn’t have the authority to rename the presidential memorial without Congress.
Trump says he’ll appeal. But he warned that if the ruling goes against the center and is not overturned by the Supreme Court, ” the Reconstruction and the Renovation of The Kennedy Center will not take place.”
Updates on the White House helipad
While the Kennedy Center renovation is now on hold, another Trump project is finished.
The president shared a photo of the new White House helipad, calling it a “work of art” and saying it was completed ahead of schedule and under budget.
“It is an Honor, ‘in my spare time,’ to bring back the Beauty and Magnificence of the White House, to levels it has never seen before, not even after its construction in 1792,” Trump wrote.
It’s the latest in Trump’s broader makeover of the White House and its grounds.
Work also continues on the new ballroom, built on the site of the demolished East Wing.
And Trump has pushed projects beyond the White House, including work at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and plans for a triumphal arch.
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