Watch: Donald Trump ‘takes a little walk' on White House roof
'What are you doing up there?' was the enquiry reporters shouted as they craned their necks to get a better view of Donald Trump as he strolled across the roof of the White House.
Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Trump had sat for a television interview about the nation's finances and then phoned Volodymyr Zelensky while his top negotiator was en route to Moscow for last chance ceasefire talks.
But by mid-morning, the American president was taking time out from international crises to turn his attention to matters closer to home and closest to his heart: construction.
At 10.45 am, the most powerful man in the world stepped through a window from the State Dining Room on to the press briefing room roof.
'Taking a little walk,' he said as confused journalists shouted various different versions of: 'What on earth...?'
Snipers kept watch from the top of the West Wing.
Beside him stood James McCrery, the architect tasked with building a new White House ballroom, explaining the reason for the unusual site visit.
The US president pointed back towards the location of the planned extension and suggested that they were checking out the site.
'Just another way to spend my money for this country,' Mr Trump shouted down. 'Anything I do is financed by me.'
Crews are due to break ground on the project next month, at a cost of more than $200m (£150m).
Mr Trump says taxpayers will not foot the bill. He and donors will pick up the tab as he makes good on a plan he hatched during his first term of leaving his fingerprints on the 'people's house.'
Crews recently completed a project to pave over the Rose Garden lawn, making it better equipped to handle press conferences or other official events.
It is a reminder that Mr Trump often operates as the builder-in-chief. His background as a real estate developer means he sometimes interrupts official visits to ask about building materials or the flooring or construction techniques.
His entry into politics in 2015 famously included a bricks-and-mortar pledge.
'I would build a great wall, and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me,' he said as he unveiled plans to seal the southern border.
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