WIRED's Walking Tour of President Trump’s Renovated Washington, DC

Washington, D.C. looks a little different these days

since his return to office.

President Donald Trump

has been physically remaking the city in his image.

As the US celebrates its 250th anniversary,

visitors might be surprised

to find the nation's capital undergoing immense change,

and in many places, under scaffolding.

We begin our walking tour at Union Station

and Columbus Circle, where unlike many of Trump's changes,

the work has been largely welcomed.

The landmark has functional fountains

and its marble sculptures

have been cleaned of all of its grime.

Turning right onto Pennsylvania Avenue,

a giant banner featuring Trump's face now stares down at you

from the side of the Labor Department.

And just three blocks down is the second

of the big Trump banners,

this time on the side of the Justice Department.

The banners across the city are symbolic of Trump's efforts

to exert total power across the entirety

of the federal government,

but the one located outside an agency

that indicted him twice is particularly notable.

The White House itself is the scene of one

of the most high-profile construction projects,

Trump's Ballroom, which will sit on the site

of the former East Wing, which he demolished.

The project, which Trump has claimed

would be paid for by donors,

has since expanded in size and scope

and now includes a presidential bunker

and a drone port on the roof.

Past the gray Eisenhower Executive Office Building,

which Trump wants to paint bright white,

you reach the Lincoln Memorial

and the Reflecting Pool, the renovation

of which has been beset with problems from algae

to tears in the sealant.

The algae bloom

that turned the pool a murky neon green color

has since been removed,

but that has only made the torn linings even more visible.

One National Guard member patrolling near

where the paint has peeled off recently told WIRED,

We could be doing more useful things

than standing around here.

There are two things we can't see on this walking tour.

One is the so-called Arc de Trump,

a planned 250-foot triumphal arch

that will tower over the entrance

to Arlington National Cemetery

and obscure views of the city.

Then there's the Kennedy Center,

which no longer bears Trump's name

after a federal district judge ordered its removal

and now a tarp covers the spot where Trump's name once sat.

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