The reviews are in for President Donald Trump’s gaudy revamp of Washington, D.C.
The majority of Americans are dissatisfied with the 80-year-old president’s myriad vanity projects, including the construction of a White House ballroom and a triumphal arch and the renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, according to a new poll.
A Washington Post/Ipsos survey conducted this month found that 65 percent of Americans held negative views of the president’s pet projects while only 32 percent approved. The remaining 3 percent didn’t offer their opinions.
Of those who disapproved, 38 percent said they were “upset” about the projects while 27 percent described themselves as “dissatisfied but not upset.”
Among those who gave a thumbs up, 19 percent said they were “satisfied but not enthusiastic” while 12 percent were “enthusiastic.”
The respondents were also asked: “In ordering these projects, do you think Trump is mainly trying to make Washington more beautiful, or do you think he has a different goal?”
More than half—51 percent—said they believe the president has a “different goal” in mind. The other 26 percent said they think Trump wants to “make Washington more beautiful,” while 22 percent were unsure about the matter.
Of the people who said Trump likely has a “different goal” in mind, 42 percent believed he was motivated by a desire “to glorify himself/vanity/ego/leave his mark/name on Washington/U.S. history,” and 22 percent speculated that it was “to enrich himself/family/ friends/corruption.”
“Putting his stamp on the area as he does with his other businesses. i.e. Trump Tower,” a 49-year-old Democrat from Ohio said.
“Trying to create an image that won’t be erased at the next presidential election,” a 64-year-old Republican from Washington said.
A 75-year-old Republican, meanwhile, argued that “[the] goal for the ballroom is for function. Past presidents have said it was needed. Pool goal is maintenance and appearance.”
Historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat previously chimed in on the debate, telling The Daily Beast Podcast that Trump’s swanky ballroom-slash-bunker project is par for the course for a “strongman” who lives in constant fear.
“The secret of strongmen is that they live in fear, and this is why they build their bunkers,” she said. “And Trump’s always talking about, you know, not only the ballroom where people can adulate him and he can get money, but the... bunker underneath—that’s his safe space."
“When the Supreme Leader of Iran was... killed, he said, ‘I got him before he could get me,’” she added. “And this—the hunt or be hunted—is the mentality of the strongman.”
