{"id":2907,"date":"2026-07-10T12:24:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T07:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=2907"},"modified":"2026-07-10T12:24:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T07:24:14","slug":"trump-turns-to-white-house-columns-for-next-construction-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=2907","title":{"rendered":"Trump turns to White House columns for next construction project"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-editable=\"content\" itemprop=\"articleBody\" data-reorderable=\"content\">\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrdq670p000x29oy2it4e2y1@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The White House North Portico is covered with significant scaffolding, now covered by a drape, that\u2019s gone up in recent days as workers rehabilitate the exterior columns at President Donald Trump\u2019s request.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrdq6um700023b6rzxuf1prm@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The column updates mark the latest effort in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2026\/05\/29\/politics\/trump-white-house-ballroom-arch\">a spate of construction projects<\/a> the president, a former real estate developer, has undertaken both at the White House and across Washington, DC.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrdq6um700033b6rne6vcx1s@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Trump spent roughly six minutes inspecting the columns as his motorcade returned from Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day. On June 9, workers were observed beginning to strip paint from the Ionic columns and \u200b the plaster. On June 29, a worker in a lift removed the massive lantern centered under the White House overhang and put its pieces into a box.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrdq6um700043b6rbnmt1mpt@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            This week, reporters did live TV hits in front of a White House now fully encrusted in scaffolding, with loud bangs emanating from the ongoing work.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrdq6um700053b6r0o08sylg@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            By Thursday afternoon, workers placed a new drape over the scaffolding with a printed image of the columns. A White House official attributed the project to \u201cstandard restoration work\u201d and \u201cstone repair in the columns.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrdq6um700063b6r5sbohfue@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cWe\u2019ve taken about 150 years of paint off of the columns, and re-did them,\u201d Trump told a crowd of supporters in the Rose Garden on Monday, asking if they\u2019d noticed the scaffolding.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrdq6um700073b6rnkalq21q@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Trump questioned whether his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, noticed problems with the columns. \u201cDo you think he walked in the office and said, \u2018I don\u2019t like the shape of the columns\u2019? I don\u2019t think so, Biden. I don\u2019t like the shape of the columns \u2014 he didn\u2019t notice things like that.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrdq6um700083b6r99oqms9o@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            The White House has not responded to CNN\u2019s inquiry as to whether there would be more substantial changes to the North Portico.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrdq6um700093b6ry6851q5w@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, whose department oversees White House renovation and restoration projects, attributed this new effort to Trump\u2019s \u201cattention to detail and the understanding to get it done.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrdq6um7000a3b6r8btlr79i@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cHe sees door dings in the pillars and says, \u2018Look at all this stuff. It needs to be repaired,\u2019\u201d Burgum said during a recent appearance on \u201cThe Katie Miller Podcast.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrdq6um7000b3b6rzjdzcocw@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Asked how long the project would take, Burgum said, \u201cIt\u2019ll go very quickly. I think they\u2019ve been up, maybe, just about 10 days now, but these guys work very quick.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrdq6um7000c3b6rzg6isy9o@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            Trump\u2019s White House projects began with gilding the Oval Office, followed by tweaks to the Roosevelt Room and Cabinet Room. He\u2019s paved the Rose Garden and demolished the East Wing to make way for a sprawling ballroom. And on Wednesday, he unveiled new signage on the exterior of the Palm Room in a <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/116886928331817100\" target=\"_blank\">photo posted<\/a> to social media.\n    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph_elevate\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmrdqhdy6000f3b6rt8xv3gfc@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n            \u201cThe newly revamped West Wing of the White House, including signage and renovated walls, maple trees, and plantings!\u201d the president wrote on Truth Social, sharing an image of \u201cThe West Wing\u201d sign written in a shiny gold script.\n    <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The White House North Portico is covered with significant scaffolding, now covered by a drape, that\u2019s gone up in recent days as workers rehabilitate the exterior columns at President Donald Trump\u2019s request. The column updates mark the latest effort in a spate of construction projects the president, a former real estate developer, has undertaken both&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2908,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/ap26190598272307.jpg?c=16x9&q=w_800,c_fill","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-trending-viral-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2907\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}