Donald Trump is hoping to erect more fences outside the White House as part of the president’s extreme makeover plans for the building.
Sources told The Washington Post that the Trump administration and the Secret Service want to install fences on Pennsylvania Avenue NW to provide additional security for the president, who has faced three assassination attempts in the past two years.
Once the fences are installed at the intersections of 15th and 17th Streets NW, the White House and Secret Service will be able to close them off and stop pedestrians from walking in front of the White House if they believe there is a security risk.
The White House currently relies on temporary barriers to close Pennsylvania Avenue for security reasons. Secret Service officials have previously called for permanent fences to be installed but were met with pushback from previous administrations concerned about the optics of denying the public access to the White House, sources told the Post.
There appear to be no such concerns from Trump, who has used his second term to remake the White House in his own gaudy image.
This has included demolishing the East Wing of the White House to build a tacky ballroom, paving over the historic Rose Garden to install a Mar-a-Lago-esque concrete patio, and filling the Oval Office with cheap, gold-covered trinkets.
Michael McGill, a former General Services Administration official who also served on the National Capital Planning Commission, was among those who expressed concern that adding fences around the White House would make the area seem closed off to the public.
“This would mean that residents and tourists alike would be unable to see the White House from any reasonable distance, especially if Trump plants more trees in the park,” McGill told The Post.
McGill was referring to another Trump proposal to plant 47 trees in Lafayette Square, across from the White House, to represent him being the 47th president of the United States.
The Post has also reported that Trump has faced further pushback over his plan to install fences on the north and south sides of Lafayette Square to provide additional security.
“The Secret Service is always going to want lower risk—and that’s their job—but in this case, that imperative is bumping against another important American feature,” said Juliette Kayyem, a former Department of Homeland Security official in President Barack Obama’s administration.
“We’ve had this park that has served as a place for citizens to congregate … and to encounter their leader.”
When reached for comment about the fence plans, a White House official told the Daily Beast: “There are always discussions ongoing about how to make the White House Complex as safe as possible. However, nothing is confirmed at this time. Any projects that are pursued will go through the necessary review process.”
