Trump wants to show off D.C. for the Fourth. His construction is in the way

WASHINGTON— As America’s 250th birthday approaches this weekend, President Trump’s sign is clearly visible in Washington.

Visitors to the nation’s capital encounter cranes hanging over the White House and construction on the site of the demolished East Wing. Fences stretching from the National Mall to the Great American State Fair have blocked the famous sightline from the U.S. Capitol to the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.

Some fountains are sparkling again as a result of Trump’s renovations. National Guard patrols the sidewalks. The partisan flavor of the events of the Trump-aligned Freedom 250 organization is on display, and Saturday’s fireworks display will feature a rally-style speech by Trump accompanied by fireworks. reportedly withdrawn until 23:00

The monument’s Reflecting Pool, where fireworks will be launched on Saturday, was barricaded from the public earlier than usual last week after spectators flocked to see the monument. moss and peeling paint This followed Trump’s renovation, and Trump accused vandals of defacing it.

“You don’t have that ‘land of the free’ feeling here,” said Melissa McFarlane, 61, standing near the fence at the Mall. He was born in Silver Spring, Maryland, and grew up watching fireworks at the Mall on the Fourth of July with his family, he said.

He recalled the nation’s bicentennial celebration as “open and inviting” but said this year’s “heavy fences” and the presence of the National Guard made it feel different.

“It’s massively unregulated, which is a strange situation for our country,” McFarlane added.

A sign outside Lafayette Park near the White House.

(Julia Demaree Nikhinson / Associated Press)

Trump has focused on making changes to the nation’s capital in his second term, declaring in an early executive order that his administration would make the region “safe and beautiful.” Some of the renovations were successful; Fountains are flowing again, including the long dormant cascading water feature in the city’s popular Meridian Hill Park.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said on “Fox & Friends” on Sunday that more than 50 parks and landscapes have been restored and 22 fountains have been repaired, as well as lights on the National Mall.

“President Trump should be thanked for everything he has done to leave things better than he found them, for the good of our great nation,” an Interior Department spokesman said in a statement. “D.C. residents and visitors are experiencing working fountains, clean parks, and safe streets in the district for the first time in decades, thanks to President Donald J. Trump.”

But Trump’s growing project list drew legal challenges Questions from conservation groups regarding: cost to taxpayers. $14.7 million Last month’s repainting of the Reflecting Pool became particularly controversial. Algae covered the renewed pool and the new paint appeared to be peeling.

On Sunday, the president toured some construction sites. pass through before heading to the East Potomac golf club, which he and Burgum plan to renovate on federal land in Lafayette Park. Trump toured part of the property and examined plans in full view of reporters; then redirected by the site it was on He wants to erect a marble arch.

Over the weekend, in a post about D.C. mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis George on Truth Social, she posted about her improvements to the city, calling it a “Safe and Prestigious Community” that is currently at risk of being “destroyed” by Lewis George.

“I have worked hard to make Washington DC the Envy of the World through a virtually crime-free and unrivaled Beautification process,” Trump wrote.

Construction crews erected scaffolding outside the Kennedy Center on June 13 before removing President Trump’s name from the venue’s exterior.

(Thoss Katopodis / Getty Images)

Presidents’ involvement in city planning dates back to George Washington, said Matthew J. Bell, an architecture professor at the University of Maryland. That’s not unusual, he said, and it’s not strange that cities, including Washington, have changed over time.

“It’s probably a matter of timing in terms of inconvenience for people coming for the Fourth,” Bell said of the ongoing construction. “If there had been a more coordinated plan for some of these … it probably could have been better managed.”

On the National Mall, the state fair’s fence design caused confusion and confusion among some tourists. Visitors are squeezed into the walkway by Freedom 250 branded fences on one side and low metal barriers on the other.

Charles A. Birnbaum, executive director of the Cultural Landscape Foundation, said it is normal to use fencing to control pedestrian traffic at mall events, but he blamed the hasty placement of the problem, including the Ferris wheel placed on the mall’s axis.

“Everything is being destroyed,” said Birnbaum, the organization’s director. lawsuit filed Management regarding repainting the Reflecting Pool. “Tells about what Trump did in the ballroom, what he suggested [with] arch – placing them in large viewing huts of great historical and cultural significance.

People walk past the Ferris wheel at the Great American State Fair on the National Mall.

(Jen Golbeck / Associated Press)

The fountains in Lafayette Park flow again near the White House on June 23.

(Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

The state fair itself was filmed relatively small crowdbut some participants was enthusiastic.

On Monday, McFarlane and two friends were outside the fence, leaning against the metal barriers in front of the Department of Agriculture overlooking the National Mall.

“It’s a little too safe,” said John, 60, visiting from Burbank and declining to give his last name.

He pointed over the barrier well-kept land with shady benches. “There’s the People’s Garden,” he said, reading the sign, “and we can’t get in.”

A construction crane works in the White House ballroom on Monday.

(Julia Demaree Nikhinson / Associated Press)

Visitors take photos of President Trump’s proposed marble arch model at the Great American State Fair on the National Mall on Tuesday.

(Mark Schiefelbein / Associated Press)

Early morning joggers observe the refilling of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on June 5.

(John McDonnell / Associated Press)

The anniversary celebrations came after the pool controversy. After paint chips were seen in the water last week, Trump accused vandals of tampering with the pool and said people had been arrested in the area. Two dead ducks were found in the pond about 250 meters away from the pool

Last week, the area was surrounded by security cameras and patrolled by the National Guard as lifelong resident John Cates wandered the area.

“It’s a little scary,” Cates said of the security cameras installed around the pool. “It is unnecessary to think that this pond poses a high security risk. This is very strange.”

The area was fenced off at the end of last week. In the Fox News interview, Burgum said the fencing was normally put up in preparation for the July 4th fireworks display, but “was removed a few days early to protect the pool.” He said 7 people were arrested in connection with the pool.

Tom Ayers, 34, was disappointed Monday to see the fences were already up. He traveled from Wisconsin with his father for the 250th, but they had trouble getting around the Mall and were sad to see the East Wing gone.

When they arrived at Lafayette Park, where the fences had not yet been removed, they were once again disappointed by the vague view of the White House. Ayers’ father recalled a different scene when he visited as a child in 1976 for the country’s bicentennial celebrations.

“I was hoping for a summer like that, but overall it doesn’t look close,” Ayers said. he said.

Times writer Ana Ceballos in Washington contributed to this report.