It has become increasingly apparent that President Trump misses his days of developing properties. Although he hasn’t developed a property in nearly two decades, not a month goes by that the President doesn’t talk about some government property he aims to re-make. And nothing seems to be good enough in Washington, DC for him (although as someone who visited our nation’s capitol not long before our last election, it appeared pretty majestic and clean to me).

He began his complaints pretty early in the administration, centering on the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. In his first term, he didn’t even bother to make an appearance for the annual Kennedy Center Honors (which he titularly hosts). But by his second term, he replaced the Board of Directors and toured the property (mostly complaining about the design). Following the collapse of business at the Center, the new Board chose to shut the Center down and essentially rebuild it in 2 years (good luck with that!). Jealous of the Kennedy name attached to the building, Trump’s cronies had already placed the Trump name on the building (without the authority from Congress to do so).

Trump has spent most of his 2nd tenure sniping with the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell – but you would think that would entail economic policy. No, the favored obsession of the President is the remodel of the Federal Reserve (a project funded by the Federal Reserve own revenue stream, not taxpayers). Despite no indication that malfeasance has occurred, the Trump Administration has focused a pressure campaign on Powell (originally appointed as Chair by President Trump) to force his departure. That departure has not been forced and Powell has now indicated that he will stay on past his expiration as Chair (as his FOMC term doesn’t end until 2028). Meanwhile, the Trump Administration will still waste precious resources on a unprovable perjury charge instead of serious federal crimes.

But most of the President’s efforts as Developer-in-Chief have been aimed at vanity projects. In honor of the nation’s semiquincentennial (250th), the President suggests the construction of a massive arch overlooking Arlington Cemetery. The 250 ft high arch would dwarf the size of any other monument in DC (including 50% higher than the Washington Monument), and would be the patterned after the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, but with American symbols adorning it (except, of course, for the lion statues at the top of the Arch). Who is this arch, that has little support in America, for? When asked, President Trump indicated “Me”.

A more recent remodel underway is the reflecting pool on the National Mall. The pool was in need of the resealing and coating, but the President chose to involve himself in this project as well. No time for the affordability crisis that he believes is a ‘con job’. But making sure the reflecting pool resembles a lap pool at Mar-a-Lago – plenty of time. Instead of talking about lower prescription drug prices, as a recent event, he chose to spend 10 minutes talking about his plans for the pool. His priorities are clear.

The largest of President Trump’s obsessions has been construction of a large capacity ballroom in the East Wing of the White House. In October 2025, he had the entire East Wing demolished, including the offices of the First Lady, the entrance for White House tours, the White House Office of Military Affairs, the Office of Legislative Affairs, and most critically the PEOC (Presidential Emergency Office Center) which provided a secure bunker for White House operations when the US is under attack. So, yes, currently there is no secure bunker for the President and his staff. But instead of an upgraded PEOC being the focus of the President, the ballroom is the focus. The ballroom has been mentioned in public by the President about one third of the days in 2026 – far more than the myriad of things that American’s actually care about. Even after an attempted assassination of the President, at his own press conference that evening, the President talked about the need for a new ballroom. A ballroom that he has claimed will be funded with private funds (except now some Republicans in Congress seem to believe that taxpayer dollars should pay for it) and apparently enable the President to hunker down in the White House instead of going out in public (like he does very frequently when he goes golfing, or attends a rally). We did not hear about the need for a ballroom when an armed man breached the perimeter of Mar-a-Lago in February of this year. But I suppose we should give the President a chance to propose some renovations to his property in Florida to ensure his protection – and host more people seeking his favor.

And the national disgrace continues…