WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� President played White House tour guide on Wednesday, showing off the he is building on the lawn before leaning over to autograph a piece of it and bragging about he’s rushing to complete .
Trump gushed for several uninterrupted minutes about granite being laid and said the chopper landing area would leave visiting foreign leaders 鈥渧ery impressed鈥� 鈥� including Chinese President , who is coming next month.
At times, he sounded almost like a construction manager, singing the praises of granite over asphalt in painstaking detail and noting for reporters he brought out for the show that the stone could withstand 35,000 pounds per square inch of pressure.
鈥淭hat’s stone that, if you took a hammer and you started hammering right now 鈥� all day long 鈥� you wouldn’t see a mark on it, literally, that’s the kind of power it is,鈥� Trump said, at times straining to be heard over the thrum of ongoing work behind him.
The president also revealed for the first time that he has replaced the walkway from the White House’s diplomatic entrance along with a portion of the asphalt driveway around the South Lawn with white granite.
鈥淥ne thing I know how to do is build,鈥� he said, asserting that asphalt is 鈥渘ot appropriate for a great house, or a great place like the White House.鈥� He said that, had he instead merely used 鈥渞eally powerful concrete,” it would have supported 鈥漥ust a tiny fraction of that in terms of strength.鈥�
Trump relishes being the builder-in-chief
The president is called upon to fill many roles as president, but embraces none with as much zeal as managing various building projects to mold the and in his own image, seeming happiest recalling his days as a real estate developer.
Trump also likes to show off his handiwork and having the White House press pool on hand at all times gives him a readymade audience. Last year, he made to survey a future work site, and earlier this summer, he took reporters for a construction site.
It suggests Trump remains focused on such projects, even as his nears the six-month mark, his with just 2 1/2 months to go before critical midterm elections, and as voters are increasingly worried about a .
Trump drove home just how important the construction projects are to him, calling the work 鈥渧ery exciting.鈥�
鈥淭his will be here long after we鈥檙e gone,鈥� Trump said of the projects. 鈥淣o matter what happens with the world.鈥�
But whether it will endure after he leaves office remains to be seen. Trump once suggested that his refurbishing of the would last a century, only for the and its liner to peel away in chunks just days after it was laid.
Trump again says his ballroom will have security value
The president has increasingly insisted that the $400 million ballroom will add security to the White House and include things like anti-drone technology. His administration even unsuccessfully sought in congressional funding to make military improvements to the structure.
鈥淭his will be the greatest military complex slash ballroom anywhere in the world,鈥� he said.
Trump also scoffed at court orders seeking to block its construction without congressional approval, saying work is continuing regardless and predicting that the Supreme Court will eventually side with him and allow the project to be completed.
The president found time to talk again about one of his 鈥� grass 鈥� and praised at length Scotts-Miracle Gro. The company’s former CEO is a Trump supporter, and it donated $1 million to repair the grass on the White House lawn after it was damaged by Trump’s marking his 80th birthday in June and by the helipad construction.
At one point on Wednesday, Trump signed the back of one of the granite stones that was marked 鈥淒onald Trump 45-47 president鈥� for the occasion. Its front is shaped like an eagle and will be laid into the helipad’s presidential seal once work is completed.
鈥淚 thought this would be a little different kind of a news conference,鈥� the president said. 鈥淲e were going to sign this privately and just put it in. I said, 鈥楾his is something I think the press should see,鈥� and I hope you liked it.鈥�
Trump had some of the construction workers sign the granite, too, and joked about leaving it upside-down so that his signature would be visible for future generations.
鈥淣ice job, fellas,鈥� he told the workers. 鈥淒oes anybody know the word media?鈥�
Trump also confirmed Wednesday that he’d delayed ongoing work on the helipad to ensure the project could be regraded to lay flatter.
He said that the granite used 鈥渉as a million-year life鈥� and predicted that it 鈥渨ill never break. It will never leak. It will never do anything” 鈥� which would mark a departure from the problem-plagued Reflecting Pool project.
鈥淣ature is stronger than what the human can produce,鈥� Trump said of the granite. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really pretty amazing.鈥�
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Associated Press writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report.
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