Trump Unveils Another Construction Project as He Rants About Asphalt

The New Republic The New Republic —

In the middle of showing off work on the new White House helipad, President Trump unveiled yet another construction project, previously unknown to the public.

Trump told reporters to join him on the building’s South Lawn Wednesday where he excitedly revealed he replaced the asphalt on the White House’s driveway with white granite mined from California, CNN https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/19/politics/trump-construction-white-house-helipad" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">reports.

“This was always asphalt, which is very basic, not appropriate for a great house—for a great place like the White House,” Trump said over loud construction noise while gesturing at the newly redone driveway, which he https://x.com/atrupar/status/2090097799681495416" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">described as made with a “very special stone.”

Trump then went on and on about the new helipad under construction at the White House, detailing how he made workers https://newrepublic.com/post/213960/donald-trump-changes-helipad-renovation-undoing-weeks-of-work" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">redo weeks of work on the project because he didn’t like the helipad’s angle.

“I felt it was too much slope.

It’s a slope for the rain, but I felt it was too much slope,” Trump said, adding that the helipad was now “dead flat.”

“Sorry to take an extra week-and-a-half, but lifting it up was one of the best things we’ve ever done, lifting it up, right?

I’m sure you didn’t like that,” Trump later told workers on the grounds.

Trump also bragged about new grass on the White House lawn, https://x.com/atrupar/status/2090098577183797599" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">claiming that newly added topsoil has “a lot of good ingredients in that earth for grass.

If you’re grass, you’re very happy.” Without any shame or worry about a conflict of interest, he then https://x.com/atrupar/status/2090098894168351165" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">revealed the grass was “given free of charge by Scotts Miracle-Gro, Scotts.

And Scotts is a great company.

They actually contributed to my campaign, I must be honest, you’ll figure that one out.”

The president has spoken about his expensive pet construction https://newrepublic.com/post/214234/donald-trump-900-million-white-house-renovations" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">projects, especially his White House ballroom, more than any other topic in 2026 except for the war in Iran, according to a Politifact https://politifact.com/article/2026/aug/11/trump-construction-ballroom-reflecting-pool/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">analysis.

It’s pretty obvious what Trump cares about more than anything else, and it comes at the expense of the American people.

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