WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House broke ground Monday on construction projects ordered by President Donald Trump to pave over the grass in the Rose Garden and install flagpoles on the north and south lawns.
The projects are part of a series of personal touches that Trump, a real estate developer turned politician, has added or is adding to the Executive Mansion and its grounds since he opened his second term in January. The projects also include new artwork of himself on walls and gold-toned flourishes in the Oval Office. He also wants to add a ballroom.
Reporters on Monday noticed that work had begun in the Rose Garden, just off the Oval Office on the south grounds, when they were taken out to the South Lawn to wait for Trump to return on the Marine One helicopter from an overnight at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland.
Photos showed that a limestone border that first lady Melania Trump had added during a Rose Garden renovation project in her husband's first term had been removed in some places and the grass had been dug up in others spots.
Employees of the National Park Service, which maintains the White House grounds, started the work on Monday, according to a White House official. The project is set to be completed in about two months, or the first half of August, said the official, who was not authorized to comment publicly on intended changes to the Executive Mansion and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
After stepping off the helicopter, Trump walked over to a bulldozer that was on the South Lawn to start digging a foundation for one of two flagpoles he promised in April. One flagpole will be added to the South Lawn, and the second will be installed on the North Lawn, he said.
Trump said he was installing two “beautiful” flagpoles “paid for by Trump” on the grounds because “they’ve needed flagpoles for 200 years.”
The American and POW/MIA flags fly on the roof of the White House every day.
The Republican president said months ago that he would pave over the Rose Garden because the grass there is always wet and an inconvenience for women in high heels. It was unclear if he planned to pay for this project.
Last week, Trump posted on his social media site about the ballroom he promised, “compliments of a man known as Donald J. Trump.”
He wrote on Friday that he had inspected the site for the ballroom, saying it will be a “wonderful addition” and is an example of the “'fun' projects I do while thinking about the World Economy, the United States, China, Russia, and lots of other Countries, places, and events.”
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Darlene Superville, The Associated Press
