As War Grinds On, Trump Relishes Renovation Projects

Sept. 7, 2026, 5:04 a.m. ET

Howard Lutnick, President Trump's billionaire commerce secretary, was holding court before reporters outside a Washington courthouse recently when he acknowledged what had become readily apparent inside the White House.

As the war with Iran grinds on, Mr. Trump finds reprieve by focusing on the minutia of an endeavor much more within his grasp: renovating Washington with ornate projects.

"He loves to build," Mr. Lutnick said, shortly before an emergency hearing about Mr. Trump's desire to rename the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in his own honor. Mr. Lutnick added: "This is what he enjoys. So late at night, 11 o'clock at night, he calls me and wants to talk about things he's building, because it's fun for him."

"If you sat with him, would you have a nice chat with him? No, you'd ask him about Iran, then you'd ask him about this, then you'd ask him about that," he noted. "Everybody does that. And the one thing he likes to do during the week is construction."

As the United States appears mired in another intractable conflict in the Middle East, Mr. Trump has basked in the momentum he has on the half-dozen makeover projects he has set in motion throughout the capital.

The Supreme Court gave him a green light to race forward with construction of the White House ballroom. The administration said it planned to start excavation work for a 250-foot-tall triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery even before a federal review panel had approved the project. The Kennedy Center board, stocked with the president's loyalists, voted to add Mr. Trump's name below the main sign on the building, and abruptly removed a large outdoor sculpture, "Blue," from the grounds.

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