RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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A newly re-gilded statue is seen at the east end of the Arlington Memorial Bridge near the Lincoln Memorial on August 1, 2026, in Washington, DC. | Kevin Carter/Getty Images
Welcome to The Logoff: President Donald Trump’s renovation mania is reaching new heights.
What’s happening? Not satisfied with a paved Rose Garden, lavish amounts of gold, and a granite walkway paid for with national parks money , Trump is currently adding a helipad to the White House lawn. Construction, begun in June, has been running 24/7 , with the goal of finishing the project before a visit from Chinese President Xi Jinping in late September.
But all is not well: As the Washington Post reported on Tuesday , contractors are now undoing their work as Trump demands a perfectly level helipad (on a South Lawn that is anything but).
It’s the latest evidence of something that New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman recently described in a podcast with Ezra Klein : By her estimate, around 70 percent of Trump’s “mind share” is tied up not with the Iran war, affordability, or the upcoming midterms, but “on his renovations,” which she describes as a “legacy thing.”
What else does Trump have in the works? In addition to the helipad, Trump is currently working on renovating Lafayette Square, across the street from the White House; on Monday, he mused about his “big decision” on whether to change the park’s pavers from red brick to granite.
He’s also re-gilding four statues near the Lincoln Memorial in vivid 23.75-karat gold; repairing the re-drained Reflecting Pool , which was the victim of a rush job the first time around; and moving ahead with his plan for a 250-foot arch, which could be approved by early next month and which the National Park Service recently concluded would have “adverse effects” on more than three dozen historic sites in the DC area.
What’s the big picture? Trump’s construction fervor has only accelerated since he returned to office last year, especially as other agenda items have eluded him. A midterms loss will further curtail his options for the final two years of his presidency, so don’t expect it to stop here.
And with that, it’s time to log off…
Here’s a stat I did not know, courtesy of my colleague Bryan Walsh: Traffic injuries are “the leading cause of death for everyone between the ages of 5 and 29 — ahead of malaria, ahead of war and homicide, ahead of every disease we spend more time worrying about.”
That’s pretty grim, and not very Logoff-y. But there’s good news, too: As Bryan reports , between 2011 and 2025, global road deaths have fallen by 21 percent, even as more vehicles take to the roads — thanks in large part to a change in how we think about traffic accidents. You can read Bryan’s full story about what changed — and what we still have to work on — here with a gift link.
Have a great evening, and we’ll see you right back here tomorrow!
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