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.
Construction continues May 28 on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington.
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.
People are also reading…
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.
Workers walk along the Reflecting Pool on Thursday in Washington as it is refilled with water after it was painted blue at the direction of President Donald Trump.
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.
U.S. President Donald Trump shows a posterboard comparing the length of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool with the height of skyscrapers as he delivers remarks to reporters Thursday in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington.
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.
Painting of Reflecting Pool finished
A worker stands in the water as the Reflecting Pool is refilled June 4, 2026, in Washington, D.C.
Segway tourists look out over the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, painted blue at the directive of U.S. President Donald Trump, on June 4, 2026, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
A visitor watches as construction workers paint the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool blue June 3, 2026, in Washington, D.C.
A construction crew works on painting the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool blue June 3, 2026, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Visitors walk past a construction fence June 3, 2026, as the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is painted blue on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Construction crews work on painting the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool blue June 3, 2026, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
A visitor watches as construction workers, not pictured, paint the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool blue June 3, 2026, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Construction workers paint the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool blue June 3, 2026, in Washington, D.C.
Members of the National Guard walk by the Reflecting Pool as it is refilled June 4, 2026, in Washington, D.C., after it was repainted at the direction of U.S. President Donald Trump.
A worker drives a utility task vehicle along the repainted Reflecting Pool as it is refilled June 4, 2026, in Washington, D.C.
