WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said this past week that a promenade will be built onto the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, the latest in a series of construction projects he launched in the U.S. capital.
"They want to call it the Trump Promenade, but I don't know if I want to do that, but it's going to be beautiful," Trump told reporters Thursday at the White House, without elaborating on who sought to name it after him.
The Lincoln Memorial, one of Washington's most iconic landmarks, is a monument to the president who led the United States through its Civil War. It sits at the western end of the National Mall, overlooking the Reflecting Pool, which Trump also refurbished.
Trump's announcement is part of the former property developer's broader push to reshape Washington's monumental core. He also intends to erect a 250-foot arch and is building a 90,000-square-foot ballroom at the site of the demolished East Wing of the White House.
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Many of his projects have faced court battles, including his bid to renovate the performing arts center named for President John F. Kennedy, which a governing board of Trump appointees renamed the Trump-Kennedy Center. A judge last week ordered the name changed back to the Kennedy Center.
The Kennedy Center on Thursday ordered staff to remove Trump’s name from the institution to comply with a federal court ruling, according to two people familiar with the directive. The memo from the center's general counsel is the first indication it is moving to reverse the name change Trump made to the iconic building last year.
In response to the court ruling, Trump said last week he would direct his administration to conduct a "complete transfer" of the center's operations to Congress.
The president suggested the promenade would be built over two roads that run alongside the memorial to allow pedestrians to cross over the roads and get to the Potomac River and other tourist sites.
"It's a beautiful project, and it's going to take the Lincoln Memorial right down to the Potomac, which it was always scheduled to do," he said.
The White House had no additional information about the project.
Trump's promenade announcement came the same day that water began flowing into the renovated Reflecting Pool on the Washington Mall. The pool is of particular interest to Trump, who had a new surface installed in a color he calls "American flag blue."
In a related development, a U.S. planning commission on Thursday advanced Trump's plan for a 250-foot Triumphal Arch that would be built across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial.
"When completed, it will be, without question, the Greatest Arch of them all!" Trump said in a post welcoming the development.
