AP PHOTOS: A look back at the White House Rose Garden as Trump's paved makeover nears completion
The garden's previously grassy lawn was fully covered by pavement as construction crews put the final touches on Trump's project Friday. The last rows of pavers were put in place as workers taped off their edges.
It's part of Trump's bigger plan to add his own flourishes to the Executive Mansion and its grounds. His updates have already added flagpoles to the North and South Lawns, and he wants to build a new ballroom on the grounds.
The Republican president said in March he'd pave over the Rose Garden because the grass is always wet and is an inconvenience for women in high heels. The project was expected to be finished in August.
The Rose Garden was created during Democrat John F. Kennedy's administration. Presidents have used the space for everything from big announcements to Thanksgiving turkey pardon ceremonies.
It's Trump's second makeover of the garden just outside the Oval Office. In 2020, first lady Melania Trump announced an update that included a limestone walking path bordering the central lawn. It also improved drainage and added accessibility for people with disabilities.
This is a photo gallery curated by Associated Press photo editors.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Intel's stock tumbles after Trump says its CEO must resign
Intel's shares are tumbling before markets opened Thursday after President Donald Trump said in a social media post that the chipmaker's CEO needs to resign. 'The CEO of Intel is highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately,' Trump posted on Truth Social. 'There is no other solution to this problem. Thank you for your attention to this problem!' Trump made the post after Senator Tom Cotton sent a letter to Intel Chairman Frank Yeary expressing concern over CEO Lip-Bu Tan's investments and ties to semiconductor firms that are reportedly linked to the Chinese Communist Party and the People's Liberation Army. 'In March 2025, Intel appointed Lip-Bu Tan as its new CEO," Cotton wrote in the letter. "Mr. Tan reportedly controls dozens of Chinese companies and has a stake in hundreds of Chinese advanced-manufacturing and chip firms. At least eight of these companies reportedly have ties to the Chinese People's Liberation Army.' Intel's stock dropped more than 4% in premarket trading. Michelle Chapman, The Associated Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Linda McMahon tried to keep speaking at a conservative conference as the music, including the ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm' theme, blasted from the sound system.
Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon was interrupted at a conservative conference by comical audio as trolls hijacked the venue's sound system. The former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO, whom President Trump unleashed on the country's education system, was speaking at Young America's Foundation (YAF) when the chaos began. The 76-year-old, who is separated from her billionaire wrestling promoter husband Vince McMahon, was talking about education funding when an audio track interfered with her speech, with the words 'corrupt billionaire' audible in the room.
Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
The Trump Administration's Illegal Plan to Defund Carbon Tracking Satellites
We've previously reported on the Trump administration's proposed new budget and the harsh cuts it delivers to NASA for the coming year. Personnel are leaving in droves, and morale is reportedly low as plans must be consistently scaled back or cancelled altogether. But that budget hasn't been approved yet. In July, lawmakers sent a letter to the newly appointed acting NASA administrator, Sean Duffy, telling him not to implement cuts from the budget until it has passed. Now, reports indicate that Duffy is continuing to pursue non-final cuts, including the defunding of two atmospheric monitoring satellites, both in the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) series. OCO3 works in tandem with the International Space Station. Since entering operation, these two satellites have produced some truly worrying data. They help quantify carbon levels in the atmosphere and track the behavior of things like carbon sinks in the oceans. Their insights are used regularly across industries, particularly agriculture. This NASA-created graphic of OCO2 proves irrefutably that the agency is not spending a lot of money on this project. Credit: NASA Worse, OCO2 and OCO3 are fully functioning satellites already in space. The vast majority of their costs have already been spent, while they each have many years of operation remaining to return further value. One NASA scientist told NPR: 'Just from an economic standpoint, it makes no economic sense to terminate NASA missions that are returning incredibly valuable data.' As a motivation, we can only surmise that it might be an extension of the administration's overall hostility toward climate science and any government project that accepts it as real. The administration has a long-standing history of attacking climate science and scientists, as well as refusing to publish government-funded research. Just recently, the current heads of the Department of Energy commissioned a report on how the 'climate consensus' is wrong. In that vein, these satellites could be shuttered simply to stop them from producing the data they do. These enormous cuts to NASA are typical of the proposed budget, though. If passed as-is, it would cut the National Institutes of Health by 40% and the Centers for Disease Control would lose 44% of their budget. The National Science Foundation would be cut by 55%. Meanwhile, other reporting suggests that the militarization of space will have no shortage of funding at all. So, what will NASA spend money on over the coming year? One recently announced option is building nuclear reactors on the moon, which would assist with human colonization and further expansion into the solar system. That mission has not yet received a budget proposal.
