How the biggest vanity project in American history reveals Donald Trump's inner vandal – Henry McLeish
Like an Egyptian pharaoh, Donald Trump wants to ensure his place in the afterlife through monumental architecture – and he doesn’t care what he has to ruin to achieve it
The National Mall in Washington DC, where the best of America’s history and heroes are on display, is a great, green wedge in the heart of the city, 400ft wide and two miles long, stretching from Capitol Hill, the home of Congress, to the Lincoln Memorial, a monument to America’s greatest president.
In between can be found the Obelisk to George Washington, the ultimate American Founding Father, and the famous Reflecting Pool, the site of Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech, regarded as one of the most significant in history. At its centre is one of the finest museums in the world, the Smithsonian Institution, while the White House, the Thomas Jefferson Memorial and Arlington Cemetery are close by.
However, today this unique and iconic place is under attack as Donald Trump seeks to desecrate and reshape the Mall in his own image. The vandals are not at the gates, they’re in charge.
A neglected Fort Knox
Visiting the Mall last week, the big question for me was why Trump’s plans have faced such limited criticism. With the mid-term elections just days away, the progressive media is understandably focusing on the rampant political corruption. But surely the president’s attack on US history is a national scandal.
The Mall – based on the processional route in London linking Buckingham Palace, Admiralty Arch and Trafalgar Square – was completed in the 1880s. Nowhere in America is there such a collection of museums, galleries, cultural institutions, monuments, sculptures, and statues, many to national heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. It is part of America’s identity.
This, however, was not the overwhelming impression when I visited last week. With an insatiable appetite for adornment and creating his own legacy, Trump is making sweeping changes.
The White House looks more like a neglected Fort Knox than a building supposed to welcome visitors. A forest of cranes are at work building the infamous ball room, which will dwarf the White House and undermine its aesthetics. There is a sense that the most famous address in America is now less important than Trump’s Mar a Lago retreat in Florida.
The ‘Arc de Trump’
An attempted “renovation and clean up” of the Reflecting Pool has been a disaster and, when I went there, it was empty of water, surrounded by steel fencing, and partly covered by torn black tarpaulin – an insult to all those who heard King’s inspirational speech.
Soon to figure on the Mall will be the 250ft “United States Triumphal Arch”, a structure ostensibly marking the 250th anniversary of the signing of the US Declaration of Independence that was quickly dubbed the “Arc de Trump”.
There will be a golden winged Lady Liberty on top of the arch, flanked by two golden eagles, with the mottos: “One nation under God” and “Liberty and Justice for all”. Never has a country been so far removed from either of those ideas. Dwarfing the Lincoln Memorial, the Arch is clearly designed to honour Trump, not America.
An insult to truth
Meanwhile, the Smithsonian has been the subject of a vicious, sustained, and aggressive assault by Trump. An executive order issued by the president, called “Restoring truth and sanity to American History”, aims to purge “improper partisan ideology” from parks and museums.
As a result, the Smithsonian’s funding has been slashed and it has been ordered to display signs warning visitors about exhibits the Trump administration considers to be “inaccurate” and directing people to places where they can find "accurate information regarding America's history”. This attempt to humiliate the Smithsonian is an insult to truth and an illustration of how the White House ruthlessly pursues revenge politics.
The presence of the National Guard on the Mall added to the sense of menace. The soldiers were heavily armed, with military vehicles and every conceivable type of weapon. It felt more like Iraq than Washington and the whole experience was surreal, a stark reminder of what America is becoming.
READ MORE: With Donald Trump's army of M16-toting geese set to enforce new name for Atlantic, what's next?
Mount Rushmore could be the next if Trump decides to have his face carved into the Black Hills of Dakota alongside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. Inevitably, there’s already an AI-generated image, courtesy of the White House.
It is customary for countries to honour national figures of distinction after their death. Like an Egyptian pharaoh, Trump wants to ensure his place in the afterlife will be as he likes it.
Morality and humanity not on the Trump agenda
The Mall’s priceless and internationally renowned assets are on the verge of being transformed by the most expensive vanity project in American history, all because of a president who lacks any interest in the environment, nationally or internationally, and the real history and culture of America’s own remarkable story.
How will this nightmare end? Why are US politicians on Capitol Hill unwilling to act? Why are the murky sources of funding for Trump’s ‘special projects’ not generating outrage and congressional inquiries?
As ordinary Americans look on and see how the wealthy few, including the Trump family, make vast fortunes while they struggle for a few crumbs from the table to survive and amid concerns over the president’s failed wars of choice and his embrace of Vladimir Putin, the cost of these monuments to his vanity may seem trifling.
But it is a reminder that morality and humanity are not on the Trump agenda – much like plans by his Secretary of State for Defence (or War), Peter Hegseth, a depleted human, to have a firing squad of soldiers publicly execute a convicted killer, a paraplegic who may be in a wheelchair, and stream it live on television.
As America celebrates its 250th anniversary, we should all recognise that culture, history, the environment and national identity are the real wealth of nations – and that they really do matter.
Henry McLeish is a former First Minister of Scotland
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.