How Donald Trump reshapes Washington DC in his image

President Donald Trump leads one of the most spectacular transformations of Washington DC by bringing significant changes to the White House, making local police under federal jurisdiction as part of a “embellishment” campaign, taking control of the District Arts Center and imposing what must be exposed in national museums.

Trump adopts a more active approach than any of his recent predecessors to solve Washington’s problems because he tries to redo the capital in his image, while eliminating what he calls the Wokestersthe homeless, hardened criminals, illegal migrants and others.

In Trump’s Washington, There will be no more savagery, dirt and verminhe said.

While he tightens his grip on the federal district, which, according to him, was poorly managed for decades, Trump categorically excluded to grant state status to Washington DC is a long -standing claim of its residents who would block his efforts to exercise increased control over what is happening in this city of 700,000 inhabitants.

What we want is to make Washington DC the largest, most beautiful and safest capital in the world, and that’s what will happenTrump told journalists at an event on Wednesday.

They already say: ” He is a dictator ”he said about his democratic detractors. However, Trump insists that Washington DC Go straight to hell. We have to put an end to this.

This week, federal agents patrolled certain parts of the district, arresting dozens of alleged criminals during the first days of Operation Trump.

The city mayor of the city, Muriel Bowser, first described this deployment as disturbing. Nevertheless, she was respectful for Trump, saying that she could not prevent her and that an increased presence of police in the streets could be positive.

Barbara Perry, co -president of the presidential oral history program at the University of Virginia and member of the board of directors of the White House Historical Associationtold CBC News that Trump’s intervention in Washington DC is unprecedented.

No other president has expressed such interest in all the different facets of Washington DC

Most presidents generally have much more to do than worry about the renovation of the White House. Crime and the maintenance of order have long been considered local issuesshe said, in particular after the district obtained administrative autonomy in the 1970s.

New ballroom

At the heart of Trump’s ambitious plan aimed at embellishing the capital is a new huge ballroom in the White House.

Although there are strict guidelines on what can be built on the White House site-smaller changes in the past have taken months, even years, to be studied and approved-, Trump officials have already announced that the construction of the immense space would begin in September.

Trump offers a project of 200 million US dollars (around 276 million Canadian dollars), with an area of 8,800 square meters, which would encompass the wing existing and part of the green spaces of the property; A legacy for the former real estate magnate. The proposed building is almost twice as large as the existing structure.

His real estate developer character is in particular to display the name of Trump on everything he has owned or wanted to haveunderlines Barbara Perry, who adds: Trump considers himself a businessman and a real estate developer, and his desire to build something like this giant ballroom corresponds completely to his aspirations.

The project aroused strong criticism from the architecture purists, but it was hailed by others, who believe that the current building is too small to accommodate large official receptions. His defenders say that Trump is right to say that little aesthetic tents must be deployed on the lawn when more than 250 people are invited to an official event.

Stephen Ayers, interim managing director of theAmerican Institute for Architectsloaded over a century ago by President Theodore Roosevelt to be the perpetual guardian The architectural integrity of the White House, calls for caution.

The 1600,Pennsylvania Avenue is the people’s house, a national treasure and a lasting symbol of our democracy. Any modification of the building, especially of this magnitude, must reflect the importance, the size and the symbolic weight of the White House itselfnote M. Ayers.

The structure proposed by Trump raises concerns about its magnitude and balancehe adds, and any addition should be adjusted to harmonize with The historical character of the White House.

Others have been more direct, qualifying the planned addition ofhideousof laidof stupid and cry due to the abundant use of gold.

I understand the usefulness and the need for this ballroom. We had trouble managing the guest list when I was therehas put forward Anita McBrideformer cabinet head of the ex-first lady Laura Bush, who participated in the organization of social events.

With events under a marquee, we cannot really say that we dine in the White House, because this is not the case. We are on the lawn. It is not as attractive, in my opinion.

There have not been many structural changes to the building since the end of the Second World War. Even at that time, it was a relatively minor modification, since President Harry Truman had added a balcony on the second floor of the presidential residence.

Truman has also renovated the interior after decades of negligence. Roosevelt demolished the greenhouses dating from before the civil war to build the west wing in 1902. His distant cousin, former president Franklin Roosevelt, added the oval office, as we know today, in 1934.

McBride, who also worked in the Reagan and HW Bush administrations, specifies that the president had the right to do what he wanted from this place, within certain limits, of course.

The building has evolved over the past 233 years. He has already undergone changes in the past, and many of them have aroused strong reactions on both sides, but we ended up adapting. It will take a while to get used to it.

The ballroom project follows Trump’s recent decision to paver part of Jacqueline Kennedy’s rose garden to install new tiles for an outdoor patio and erect two imposing masts on each side of the White House to proudly hoist the American flag.

In the blink of an eye to his apartment in the Trump Towerthe president placed golden details all over the oval office and other interior spaces of a building which was much more modest when it opened in 1800.

The White House was built by our founding fathers, notably George Washington, so as not to look like European palates. But I’m not sure they could have imagined the world in which we live todayexplains McBride.

It is the president’s personal preference. It may not please everyone, but that is Mr. Trump. As long as he is there, this is how he wishes.

Fight against crime and control of Kennedy Center

Beyond the doors of the White House, Trump promises an ambitious campaign to renovate the parks, roads and landfolves in the federal district, because it estimates that the current state of the premises is embarrassing When world leaders come to visit him.

Muriel Bowserthe mayor of Washington, refuted Trump’s words, saying that the city was already more beautiful and more secure than before: the number of tourists is increasing and economic activity has improved after a slowdown after the Cavid-19 pandemic.

However, Trump described the city in dystopian terms while he was preparing to deploy the Washington National Guard in the streets of the capital.

His takeover of Washington DC does not stop there.

Trump took control of the board of directors of Kennedy Center for the Performing Artswho then appointed him president.

He abandoned an allegedly progressive programming and promoted a summer programming of the play The miserablewhich has just closed five weeks of services closed under his direction.

Now, Trump will personally host the annual center award ceremony of the center and will give the prices to handpicked celebrities, in order to increase the television audience.

Sylvester Stallone, Gloria Gaynor et Kiss are the personalities honored with Kennedy Center Chaired by Trump.

He also directs the renovation of this space and recently convinced the Congress Republicans to allocate US $ 257 million (around 355 million Canadian dollars) to its renovation. Some of its allies in the congress are pressure for the building opera to be renamed in honor of the current first lady, Melania Trump.

And then there is the Smithsonian Institutionwhich, earlier this year, withdrew a reference to the dismissal procedures brought against Trump during his first mandate from an exhibition at the American History Museum. She was then reintegrated, with a modified text.

This week, heads of the White House urged the museum director to reassess the works on display as the 250 approach^e country anniversary in 2026.

The White House wants visitors to admire exhibitions that celebrate American exceptionalism.

There is nothing traditional in the way Trump wants to do things, underlines McBride. He does things in his own way, the one he is used to.

According to an article by John Paul Tasker, CBC News