The Left Needs New Leaders
As Ms. Strassel points out, it will require a 'charismatic outsider' to course-correct a party that has been taken over by its left wing and is deeply out of touch with the American mainstream. I can't say who that person will be, but I can recommend the first step that person should take: Kick Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez out of the party. Then assist any of her acolytes who are willing to 'self deport.'
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CNN
22 minutes ago
- CNN
From flag poles to a $200 million ballroom: Inside Trump's ‘legacy project' at the White House
Donald TrumpFacebookTweetLink Follow President Donald Trump held plenty of meetings at the White House this summer: with foreign delegations striking trade deals, Cabinet members plotting a government overhaul and industry executives seeking tariff relief. But amid the various audiences, he's also found time for discussions of a different purpose. In recent weeks, Trump has gathered officials with varying responsibilities on the White House campus — including from the National Park Service, the White House Military Office and the Secret Service — to talk over his ideas for transforming the building and its grounds to his liking. His specifications have been exacting, including finishes that closely resemble his gold-trimmed private clubs — or, in some cases, have been shipped directly from Mar-a-Lago. His ambitions extend well beyond a temporary cosmetic makeover. 'It'll be a great legacy project,' he said Thursday of his plans to construct a 90,000-square-foot ballroom off the East Wing of the mansion. 'And I think it'll be special.' No president in recent memory has put his physical imprint on the executive mansion or its plot of land as much as Trump has done this year. Barely six months after reentering office, his aspirations to dramatically alter the White House have now entered an advanced stage. Two large flagpoles now tower over the North and South Lawns, their massive stars-and-stripes visible even to passengers landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport five miles away. Trump personally dictated the poles' galvanized steel, tapered design and interior ropes, and oversaw their installation in June. The Rose Garden has been stripped of its grass and paved over with stone, an attempt to replicate the patio at Mar-a-Lago, where Trump dines al fresco during his weekends away from Washington. The president made frequent check-ins this summer with the orange-shirted workers tearing out the grass and reinforcing the ground underneath, at one point inviting them into the Oval Office for a photo. Presidential seals have been embedded into the stone, and the drainage grates are styled like American flags. The Oval Office itself is adorned with lashings of gold decoration, which Trump ordered up from a craftsman in Florida who'd worked on his Palm Beach estate, people familiar with the matter said. Tiny gold cherubs looking down from above the doorways came straight from Mar-a-Lago. And soon, construction will begin on the new ballroom, whose footprint will amount to the first major extension of the White House in decades. Trump said he, along with other private donors, will foot the $200 million bill. (He also has said he paid for the flag poles and funded the Rose Garden renovations through private donations, without disclosing the price tag of either.) 'President Trump is a builder at heart and has an extraordinary eye for detail,' White House chief of staff Susie Wiles said in a statement this week. 'The President and the Trump White House are fully committed to working with the appropriate organizations to preserving the special history of the White House.' Renderings provided by the White House depict a vast space with gold and crystal chandeliers, gilded Corinthian columns, a coffered ceiling with gold inlays, gold floor lamps and a checkered marble floor. Three walls of arched windows look out over the White House's south grounds. The gold-and-white style closely mimics the Louis XIV-style main event room at Mar-a-Lago. Trump has not shied away from drawing comparisons to his clubs. 'No president knew how to build a ballroom,' Trump said last weekend, meeting the European Commission president in another of his crystal-draped ballrooms, this one at his Turnberry golf resort in Scotland. 'I could take this one, drop it right down there, and it would be beautiful.' Trump's impulse to make his own improvements is animated by several factors, he and his aides say. One is a builder's instinct, cultivated over decades in real estate and never quite extinguished when he entered politics a decade ago. 'I love construction,' Trump told reporters as he was watching his new flagpoles going up in June. 'I know it better than anybody.' Another is Trump's genuine belief that aspects of the White House can be improved, even as he voices reverence for the building itself. 'It won't interfere with the current building,' he said of the new ballroom this week, which the White House says will triple the amount of indoor ballroom space and eliminate the need for temporary tents to host state dinners. 'It'll be near it, but not touching it, and pays total respect to the existing building, which I'm the biggest fan of. It's my favorite place.' The alternative, he said, was an unpleasant solution that he said didn't match the dignity of a state affair. 'When it rains, it's a disaster,' he said. 'People slopping down to the tent — it's not a pretty sight, the women with their lovely evening gowns, all of their hair all done, and they're a mess by the time they get (there).' Trump said last week that a new ballroom had long been an aspiration of his predecessors. But officials in previous administrations said the concept never arose. 'We never had the desire nor did I ever hear or participate in a conversation to build a ballroom on the White House lawn. We were focused on issues that actually affected people and communities,' said Deesha Dyer — who, as social secretary in President Barack Obama's administration, was responsible for organizing major events like state dinners. The vision of a new White House ballroom has been floating in Trump's mind dating back at least to 2010, when he called Obama's White House proposing to build one. Officials at the time weren't quite sure what to make of the offer. 'I'm not sure that it would be appropriate to have a shiny gold Trump sign on any part of the White House,' then-press secretary Josh Earnest, who confirmed the offer, said in 2015. Trump, however, was serious about it and seemed affronted to be turned down. 'It was going to cost about $100 million,' Trump said during his first term. 'I offered to do it, and I never heard back.' By the time he was in office for his first term, Trump has said he was too consumed with defending himself from his perceived enemies to get it done. 'I had to focus,' he said earlier this year. 'I was the hunted. And now I'm the hunter. There's a big difference.' Now in his second term, Trump says he is unencumbered by naysayers questioning his design ambitions. And he has forged ahead with the most extensive reshaping of the executive mansion in decades, dictated mainly by his own tastes. While his cosmetic changes to the Oval Office will likely go with him when he departs in 2029, the other changes he's made could be more lasting. Removing the flagpoles could risk appearing unpatriotic. Tearing out the Rose Garden pavers would be costly. And once a nearly quarter-billion-dollar, 650-person ballroom is built, it's unlikely to be torn down. 'People's tastes differ. I will say this about presidential changes: Some are long-lasting and embraced by the American people. And some just disappear,' said Tim Naftali, a presidential historian at Columbia University. He cited Theodore Roosevelt's addition of mounted moose and elk heads in the State Dining Room as a detail that didn't withstand time. 'What President Trump does inside the Trump ballroom may not survive the Trump presidency,' Naftali said. 'As long as the bones of the structure are good, future presidents will be able to redesign that space as they see fit.' In Trump's own telling, the additions will contribute to his legacy — akin to the Truman Balcony the 33rd president added to the second floor of the building, or the Lincoln Bedroom the 16th president used as an office. Nearly every president has put his own mark on the building, either through individual fancies or practical necessity, going all the way back to its construction in 1792. 'The White House has been shaped by the visions and priorities of its occupants, from Jefferson's colonnades to Truman's monumental gutting,' wrote White House Historical Foundation President Stewart McLaurin in a recent essay. 'Each change, whether Jackson's North Portico, Arthur's opulent redecoration, or Clinton's security measures—has sparked debate, reflecting tensions between preservation and modernization, aesthetics and functionality, and openness and security.' McLaurin said often, in time, the changes have come to be accepted by the public. 'Media and Congressional criticisms have often focused on costs, historical integrity, and timing, yet many of these alterations have become integral to the identity of the White House, and it is difficult for us to imagine The White House today without these evolutions and additions,' he wrote. For Trump, making the additions integral to the White House's identity is part of the plan. He has raised questions about the renovations even in meetings ostensibly meant for other purposes. 'Who would gold-leaf it?' he asked members of his Cabinet in early July, gesturing to ceiling moldings in the West Wing. 'Could you raise your hands?' One member of his Cabinet, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., offered a several-minute aside during the start of a speech this week to praise the president's updates. 'I've been coming to this building for 65 years and I have to say that it has never looked better,' said Kennedy, the nephew of President John F. Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline. Like Trump, Jackie Kennedy took intense interest in improving the White House. She undertook an extensive redecoration of the State Floor, including procuring antiques and paintings from wealthy philanthropists to improve the building's grandeur. Much of her designs remain in place today. She also oversaw a redesign of the Rose Garden with the help of heiress and famed horticulturalist Rachel 'Bunny' Mellon, turning the space into a grassy and floral respite from the Oval Office nearby. Now, the grass is mostly gone. Trump, who had voiced concern about women's high heels sinking into the soil during events, selected light-colored square pavers to replace the lawn. 'It's always extraordinary to go into that sacred space, but I have to say that it looked kind of drab in the pictures,' Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said of looking back on old family photos of the Oval Office during his uncle's era. 'It looks the opposite of drab today.'
The Hill
24 minutes ago
- The Hill
Senate leaving Russia sanctions power fully in Trump's hands
Republican senators are getting ready to leave Washington without advancing a major sanctions bill against Russia, giving President Trump sole discretion over whether to follow through on his threats against Russian President Vladimir Putin if he refuses to halt his war against Ukraine. Trump has given an Aug. 8 deadline for Putin to stop fighting or risk tariffs on countries that import Russian oil. As a preview, he announced 25 percent tariffs on India, a major importer of Russian energy. That's far below the 500 percent secondary tariff power Congress laid out in draft legislation. While Senate Ukraine hawks wanted to see their sanctions bill pass before the monthlong break, they ultimately left the decision entirely in Trump's hands, at least for the summer. 'I think he's going to be very careful about what he does,' Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said when asked by The Hill if Trump can be trusted to impose costs on Putin. 'But I think he is clearly disappointed in Putin and I think he is now coming around to recognizing that many of us were right.' Democrats have expressed skepticism Trump will punish Putin, even as the president has shown increasing frustration with the Russian leader's refusal to accept a ceasefire. Trump said Friday he ordered nuclear submarines to the region in response to threats of nuclear weapons use from Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president, current deputy chair of the security council and frequent online provocateur. 'Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances,' Trump posted on his social media site Truth Social. Trump told reporters Thursday that his special envoy for peace missions, Steve Witkoff, is expected to travel to Russia following a visit to Israel on Friday. Trump described Russia's ongoing attacks against Ukraine as 'disgusting.' 'We have about eight days. … We're going to put sanctions,' he said. Even as Trump has shortened the deadline for Russia to get serious about peace talks, the president is hedging on the impact U.S. financial penalties will have on Putin's country. 'I don't know that sanctions bother him. You know? They know about sanctions. I know better than anybody about sanctions, and tariffs and everything else. I don't know if that has any effect. But we're going to do it.' While the U.S. has steadily ramped up sanctions on Russia throughout the war, the Senate bill would have marked a major economic escalation, seeking to isolate Moscow from trading partners that have kept its wartime economy afloat. 'Maintaining pressure on Russia economically, and going after its oil revenues in particular, remain crucial to containing and limiting Russia's current and future military and foreign policy options,' experts with the Center for Strategic and International Studies wrote in a report late last month. Steep tariffs on Russia's trading partners would also risk shocks to the global energy market and further strain on U.S. relations with major economies such as India, China and Brazil. Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said deciding which sanctions are imposed — if Russia passes Trump's deadline — 'are a work in progress,' speaking with The Hill on Friday. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), coauthor of the Russia sanctions bill with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), said he would view it as a win if Trump imposed even a fifth of what the Senate was proposing. 'We propose in our bill 500 percent. If it's 250 percent, I could live with it. Even if it's 100 percent, possibly. But you ought to impose bone-crushing sanctions that will stop them from fueling Russia's war machine,' Blumenthal said. The Connecticut senator said even as he holds out hope for Trump to give Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) the green light to bring the sanctions bill to the floor, the bill has already moved U.S. policy. 'It has given credibility and momentum to the idea of sanctions so that now, even President Trump, who was seemingly Putin's best buddy, is giving him deadlines to stop the war or face sanctions,' he said. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, pointed to Trump's 25 percent tariffs on India as further evidence of this impact. Indian state oil refiners have already moved to pause imports of Russian oil, with the tariff set to go into effect Aug. 7. 'Clearly, India was paying attention to that. I think it's positive progress that the president is looking at ways in which he can put more pressure on Russia,' she said. Graham said Trump has 'adopted the theory of the case' — going after countries that purchase Russian oil and don't help Ukraine. 'He can do it through executive action, or with the bill,' he said. 'I think the bill, as you say, gives him leverage, and we're in good discussions, so stay tuned.' But some Republican senators pointed to a missed opportunity in adjourning before a vote on the Graham-Blumenthal bill. 'I don't think there are enough sanctions we can place on Russia. I think we should keep hammering them and make sure Ukraine's armed,' said Sen. Pete Ricketts (Neb.), the No. 2 Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Rounds told The Hill he believed the time is now to put the sanctions bill on the floor. Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation, said he wanted a Senate vote on the sanctions package so the House could be ready to take it up when they come back in September. 'I think having that tool in your tool chest, ready to go, would be a good thing and keep the pressure on Russia,' he said. 'I think it gives [Trump] more leverage. You can always hold it ready to go, send it over to the House if needed and then to the president's desk. I think that's not a bad strategy.' Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah), also a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, agreed. 'I think that's why it's important for us to have this teed up and ready — it gives [Trump] an option, and the more options he has the better,' he said. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told The Hill on Wednesday that Thune was 'absolutely aware' of his desire to vote on the Russia sanctions bill before the August recess. 'I certainly think it would be an excellent thing to do.' Thune's office told The Hill on Friday it had no scheduling announcements related to the Graham-Blumenthal bill.
The Hill
24 minutes ago
- The Hill
Senate deal on nominees elusive amid Democratic anger at Trump
President Trump, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) are making slow progress toward a deal to clear some of the Senate's backlog of executive branch nominees to allow weary senators to leave Washington for the four-week August recess. Walking off the darkened Senate floor at 10 pm Friday, Thune said negotiators 'floated' proposals 'back and forth all day' but added that the Democratic demands 'are probably not going to be something at this point we can meet.' 'No deal yet,' he said. The Senate is scheduled to reconvene at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday and will vote at 10 a.m. to limit debate on Andrew Puzder's nomination to serve as U.S. ambassador to the European Union. Democrats are under heavy pressure to oppose Trump in any way they can, including stymying his nominees, and their anger soared again on Friday after the president fired Erika McEntarfer, the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, after the agency released a weaker-than-expected jobs report. Trump accused McEntarfer, a Biden appointee, of manipulating the jobs data for 'political purposes' but Schumer said the president was only 'shooting the messenger.' Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), the Democrats chief deputy whip, said called the firing 'absolutely insane' while Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) called it 'Soviet sh–.' Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said he's willing to stick around steamy Washington for however many days it takes to grind through votes on Trump's nominees, showing little appetite for a deal to advance a bloc of Trump picks through unanimous consent or a voice vote. 'I know there's a lot of things being negotiated so I'm not going to comment on that,' he said when asked if he could support advancing a package of Trump nominees. 'I'm okay with sticking around to do work. It's unfortunate that we have a Republican Party right now that's off the rails and doing Donald Trump's bidding,' he said. Booker said Trump's decision to fire the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics because of a disappointing jobs report was 'very authoritarian, very 1984.' Senators are now expected to spend their weekend voting on Trump's nominees as Democrats have refused to allow any of them — even those tapped to fill subordinate positions at federal departments and agencies — to be confirmed by unanimous consent or voice votes. Senators on both sides of the aisle are eager to get home for the month-long break, having spent more time in Washington than usual since the start of the year. As of this week, members of the Senate have cast more votes during the first seven months of the year than the chamber had previously taken over 12 months in 32 of the past 36 years. But they will have to wait to return to their home states as leaders continue to wrestle over a deal on a nominations package and as Democrats are hearing demands from their party's base to drag out the confirmations of Trump's nominees for as long as possible. Democratic senators said they had little sense of whether Schumer was making any progress with Trump on a deal. 'Could be more votes tonight or could be more votes tomorrow but I don't really know,' Sen. Tim Kaine (R-Va.) said shortly after 8 pm. Some senators were told to 'keep their phones on' Friday night in case they were summoned back to for a late-night flurry of votes. Republicans ranged from pessimistic to optimistic when asked about the prosect of a deal on a package of nominees to spare them from having to return to the Capitol for a Saturday session. 'At this point, I think they're quite a ways apart,' Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) told The Hill upon emerging from a conference luncheon earlier in the day. 'We'll do our best to try to work through as many [nominations] as we can and kind of move from there,' Rounds said. 'We don't have a deal. We're going to continue to try to work on something, but we don't have a deal yet.' Sen. Tom Tillis (R-N.C.) told The Hill after 8 p.m. Friday that it appeared the White House and Schumer's team had made progress since lunchtime. The talks reached new stage on Friday as Schumer began negotiating directly with the White House on the contours of a package. Thune told reporters that he has put White House officials 'into conversation directly' with Schumer's team. 'That is how this is ultimately going to get resolved,' he said. The Republican leader said that 'a number of people' from the White House are talking with Schumer, who is under heavy pressure from his Democratic base to use every tool at his disposal to thwart Trump's agenda. Thune said a deal would be 'up to the discussions between the White House and Schumer and the Democrats.' He and other Republicans assert that Trump is being treated unfairly on the nominations front, noting that none of his choices have been confirmed via unanimous consent or a voice vote — breaking with past precedent. The Democratic tactics have forced Republicans to churn through time-consuming procedural votes and final confirmation votes on every single Trump nominee Democrats only allowed Secretary of State Marco Rubio to come directly to the floor for a final vote on the same day Trump took the oath of office. Rubio was confirmed by a vote of 99 to 0. 'This isn't normal. This is petty partisan politics at its worst,' Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said on the floor earlier on Friday. 'Republicans are not backing down. We will continue to confirm President Trump's nominees. The easy way if we can. The hard way if we must.' Senate Republicans weekly policy luncheon on Tuesday was filled with discussions about changing the Senate's rules for confirming lower-level nominees — either by eliminating the need for procedural votes before the final confirmation votes, collapsing the mandatory debate time, or allowing nominees to move in groups. They would need to establish new rules by a simple-majority vote, a move that's considered so destructive to bipartisanship that it's referred to the 'nuclear option.' Under regular order, it would take 67 votes to change the Senate's rules. Senate Republicans are also talking about putting the Senate into an extended recess so that Trump could fill scores of open positions through recess appointments. But that would require mustering 50 Senate Republican votes, something that's not assured given that several Republican senators, including Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tillis are reluctant to give up their constitutional role of providing 'advice and consent' on nominees. Entering into a multi-week recess would require passing an adjournment resolution through both the Senate and House, and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) hasn't given any indication he plans to call House members back to Washington before September. Trump has called on the Senate to stay in session throughout August in order to approve his nominees, but the vast majority of senators are ready for a break. The Senate has been in session for 12 of the past 14 weeks and had its July Fourth recess chopped in half because of marathon negotiations over Trump's One Big, Beautiful Bill Act, which passed after senators slogged through a long series of amendment votes that went overnight and into the next day. While Senate leaders remain deadlocked over a nominations deal, they achieved a major bipartisan accomplishment Friday evening when they passed a package of appropriations bills to fund military construction, the Department of Veterans Affairs and Agriculture, and the legislative branch. The Senate voted 87 to 9 to pass the military construction, veterans affairs and agriculture appropriations 'mini-bus' and 81 to 15 to attach the legislative branch appropriations bill to the package.
