Photo: Alamy
President Donald Trump announced plans Thursday for a new pedestrian walkway connecting the Lincoln Memorial to the nearby Potomac River, suggesting that the project could be called the “Trump Promenade.”
Speaking from the Oval Office, the president said the proposed promenade would restore part of the memorial’s original vision by reconnecting it to the riverfront.
“They want to call it the Trump Promenade,” President Trump told reporters. “I don’t know if I want to do that, but it’s going to be beautiful.”
He said the project would create a pathway over two major roadways that currently separate the memorial from the river.
“It’s going to take the Lincoln Memorial right down to the Potomac, which it was always scheduled to do,” he said. “We have a way of beautifully going over those two roads, the highways.”
The announcement comes as workers finish resurfacing the National Mall Reflecting Pool near the Lincoln Memorial, another Trump-backed renovation project. Water was being pumped back into the pool Thursday.
President Trump displayed a chart titled “Our Pool is Bigger than Skyscrapers,” comparing the size of the Reflecting Pool to several well-known buildings.
Since returning to office last year, the president has pushed an expansive public works and renovation agenda in Washington that includes changes to monuments, plans for a new White House ballroom and proposals for additional large-scale architectural projects.
Several of those efforts have encountered legal and political resistance. A federal judge ruled last month that Trump’s name must be removed from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts after a dispute over governance and branding at the institution.
According to multiple reports, Kennedy Center leadership has since instructed staff to remove Trump’s name from signs, brochures, websites and other materials.
President Trump’s White House ballroom project has also faced scrutiny. The president has said the estimated $400 million construction cost will be privately funded through donations and his own money.
Republican lawmakers recently abandoned a separate proposal that could have provided up to $1 billion for additional Secret Service security enhancements tied to the project, including plans for a rooftop “drone pad.”