How Trump is leaving his mark — literally — on Washington and beyond: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to From the Politics Desk, a daily newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.

In today’s edition, Andrea Mitchell reviews the ways President Donald Trump is leaving a physical stamp on the nation’s capital. Plus, we dig into the Cabinet officials Republicans want on the stump this fall.

Programming note: We’re off tomorrow ahead of the holiday weekend. We’ll be back in your inbox on Tuesday.

— Adam Wollner

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How Trump is leaving his mark — literally — on Washington and beyond

Analysis by Andrea Mitchell

President Donald Trump often describes himself as a builder.

Last week, he showed off the new helipad covering a large swath of the South Lawn to visiting schoolchildren. He frequently displays renderings of his proposed arch and ballroom in the Oval Office. And during a meeting with oil industry executives earlier this year, he extolled the ballroom excavation that could be seen outside an East Room window, which the Supreme Court has allowed to proceed.

There is no question that Trump is reshaping national parks, memorials and the physical landscape of the nation’s capital. Today, a federal judge blessed the administration’s plans to replace a popular, inexpensive public golf course with what he has called a “world class championship” course modeled after his own. With construction scheduled for this month, bicyclists and preservationists opposed the administration chopping down 150 trees, including Japanese cherry trees. The Justice Department told a court today that 77 of the cut-down trees were determined to be “invasive” and 73 were taken down because they were “dead, dying or hazardous.”

Judge Ana Reyes said she found “no reason” not to believe the government but remarked it was ironic that 250 years after the nation’s birth, “we are here talking about a president yet again chopping down cherry trees.”

There are other ways that Trump is leaving his mark on Washington. Banners with his image have appeared on government buildings, including the traditionally independent Department of Justice. His portrait is now also on a $1 golden coin commemorating the country’s 250th birthday.

Known in the real estate business for branding his buildings, Trump added his name to the U.S. Institute of Peace, a privately funded nonprofit think tank across from the State Department, days before a challenge to his takeover was to be heard in court. In another case, a federal judge ordered Trump’s name removed from the Kennedy Center façade because the 1964 legislation that created the center designated it as Washington’s sole memorial to President John F. Kennedy, barring any renaming. The White House is appealing but went on to name the surrounding plaza for Trump.

NBC News has reported that the Navy is discussing renaming an aircraft carrier, the USS Doris Miller, now under construction, for Trump. Miller grabbed an anti-aircraft gun during the attack on Pearl Harbor despite having no training on the weapon and is credited with having shot down at least one Japanese plane. Traditionally, warships are not named for sitting presidents.

In Palm Beach, Florida, home to Mar-a-Lago, the airport was recently renamed for the president. And yesterday, Trump joked the embattled Strait of Hormuz should be renamed the “Trump Strait.”

The White House has faced down a series of legal challenges to its projects. And today, the administration announced it will begin excavation for the 250-foot-tall triumphal arch by the Arlington Memorial Bridge, taller than other iconic monuments including the Lincoln Memorial.

It all comes as NBC News reports that some Republicans are concerned these projects are distracting from what voters care about most: affordability.

Trump’s Cabinet on the campaign trail

By Peter Nicholas, Matt Dixon, Julie Tsirkin and Bridget Bowman

Looking to cover maximum ground, members of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet have been hitting the campaign trail ahead of the midterms to amplify his message. One who’s in particular demand is the health and human services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

“The MAHA voters are more attached to him than even to Trump, which is crazy,” said a GOP strategist who is involved in midterm races. “He’s one of the most requested Cabinet members” at campaign events.

Another Cabinet member who has shown up on the trail is Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, which has raised eyebrows.

“I personally thought it was inappropriate for me to do that as a Cabinet official because my job was to build a consensus on Capitol Hill and in the country,” said William Cohen, a defense secretary under President Bill Clinton who had earlier served as a Republican senator from Maine. “If I were to go to a rally and speak on behalf of a given candidate, those who oppose that candidate would see that as me using the department.”

Asked for comment about Hegseth’s partisan political appearances, the Pentagon has said he makes those in his “personal capacity.”

“Department staff are not involved in, nor privy to, the details of events that Secretary Hegseth attends in his personal capacity,” a department official said. “Therefore, we have no comment.”

A Trump adviser said that the president’s political base reacts to Hegseth with an intensity that few other Trump surrogates can generate. Hegseth has told close friends and associates that he is considering a run for president in 2028, NBC News has reported. Hegseth, in a social media post after the article was published, said it was “100% false.”

“Pete Hegseth is loved by President Trump’s political base, and any time we can put people like him in front of those voters, it’s a good thing for Republicans,” the person, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said. “He gets them excited the way few can, and any criticism he receives for it only makes them love him more.”

Read more →

🗳️Related: Trump says he’ll campaign for Republicans in 35 races ahead of the midterms, by Kyla Guilfoil

That’s all From the Politics Desk for now. Today’s newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner and Lauren Zola.

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