President Donald Trump already orchestrated makeovers of several iconic parts of the White House, including the Rose Garden lawn and East Wing, and now renovations are underway on the building's iconic columns at its front entrance.
Reports of the new renovations began to surface late last week when construction crews were photographed performing maintenance on the White House columns, which were built in 1830.
Crews work on North Portico columns Friday at the White House in Washington.
The paint on the columns appeared to be chipped in many spots, with scaffolding present as crews worked on the project.
The White House confirmed the construction work in a statement to USA TODAY Network: "The North Portico columns are currently undergoing standard restoration work. This is for stone repairs in the columns.”
Crews remained outside the White House on Tuesday painting the columns, according to social media reports.
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A temporary arena that hosted the UFC Freedom 250 fight card is worked on and construction continues Monday on the planned White House ballroom in the area of the former East Wing in Washington.
Though it's unclear the extent of the renovations, Trump is reportedly in favor of replacing the columns altogether. The Washington Post reported in March that Trump is eyeing more decorative Corinthian-style columns, considered "the most luxurious in classical architecture."
“Corinthian is the highest order (of column), and that’s what our other two branches of government have,” Rodney Mims Cook Jr., their chairman of the Commission of Fine Arts, told the Post. “Why the White House didn’t originally use them, at least on the north front, which is considered the front door, is beyond me.”
The current maintenance comes as crews continue to take down the structure of this month's UFC Freedom 250 fight held outside the White House. The structure towered over the White House and provided a view many people felt was eerily similar to scenes from the satirical movie "Idiocracy."
The White House is seen Sunday through a fenced-off Lafayette Square during ongoing renovations in Washington.
Additional work done at the White House since Trump began his second term includes the installation of 88-foot-tall flagpoles and applying gold accents throughout the Oval Office.
The East Wing demolition has been perhaps his most ambitious White House construction, as the president ordered the construction of a ballroom now projected to cost $600 million.
Trump also attempted to make over parts of Washington, D.C., but Americans polled in April were largely unsupportive of the president's renovation and construction projects.
