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Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images and Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
As if US president Donald Trump’s renovations to the White House and the Reflecting Pool weren’t controversial enough, the 80-year-old reportedly has another idea to tweak another Washington, D.C. landmark: this time concerning Lafayette Square park north of the presidential building.
Citing two sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity, The Washington Post reported on Monday that the Republican intends to have exactly 47 maple trees in Lafayette Square, to signify his being the 47th president.
Renovations at the park began back in January, and in a post to his Truth Social platform on Sunday, the president said: “The visit to Lafayette Park, opposite the front entrance of the White House, which is now complete except for a replacement of some of the original pavers, was wonderful.
“Lafayette Park has not looked so good since its inception in 1820!”
Trump’s latest focus has been ridiculed online, with Tahra Hoops of Chamber of Progress writing: “Born to be a first lady. forced to govern”:
“This is what he’s focused on while you struggle to afford gas and groceries,” tweeted Massachusetts representative and Democrat whip Katherine Clark:
Another commented sarcastically: “Impressive he has this much time on his hands after not starting any new wars and lowering costs on ‘day one’”:
An advance extract from Regime Change: Inside the Imerpial Presidency of Donald Trump, by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan of the New York Times, claimed Trump was more enthusiastic about maple trees for the White House than the ongoing war in Iran.
“As he greeted us, the war seemed the furthest thing from Trump’s mind. On the Resolute Desk, instead of a map of the Middle East, were printouts of maple trees. ‘I’m ordering trees for the White House,’ Trump told us. ‘I know how to buy good trees. Maples,” the extract reads.
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