Trump wanted a redesigned Washington, D.C., for the nation’s birthday. He’ll have to wait

Ahead of the country’s big 250th birthday, America’s capital doesn’t exactly look party ready. The White House grounds are a construction zone where the East Wing once stood, and the South Lawn is yellowed and flat after the staging for a UFC cage match was packed up and removed. The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is fenced off as crews work to clean and repair a rushed, attempted renovation job. The Kennedy Center is covered by a tarp. Across the monumental core of Washington, D.C., the impact of President Donald Trump’s pricey pet projects can be seen from the sky. Rather than a city that looks dressed up for a celebration, it’s a construction site in the middle of overlapping projects, some of which courts have ruled Trump has no authority to pursue. A developer, Trump is consumed by his renovation work and brings it up often in public, and it’s no secret he likes putting his name on things. Yet these projects come as the president’s approval rating has tumbled, and critics see them as out-of-touch vanity projects. “He should go off and become an interior decorator, if that’s what his heart desires,” said Representative Brendan Boyle, a Pennsylvania Democrat. Plagued by ballooning costs, legal challenges, and a lack of official approval and public support, the timeline for Trump’s hoped-for improvements and renovations—some of which are tied to America’s 250th anniversary—won’t be finished until long after July 4, 2026. Here’s where they stand: Construction on the East Wing ballroom addition (right of frame) and the UFC fighting ring erected on the South Lawn of the White House, June 7, 2026 [Photo: Kevin Carter/Getty Images] The White House At the site of the former East Wing, construction has begun on underground portions of a massive military-style bunker, but a U.S. District judge has blocked aboveground construction of the president’s long-desired ballroom from proceeding, saying