Trump’s Washington makeover intensifies as Iran deal languishes

May 28 (Reuters) – A cage-fighting arena is rising on the White House South Lawn. I’m Jacob Bogage – I usually cover the White House, but this week I’ve also been watching construction. Not the state ballroom project, but a UFC fight cage – the octagon. (Got news tips or feedback? Email me: [email protected], opens new tab)

A source close to congressional Republicans ​this week described Donald Trump’s presidency to me as a restaurant maître d’ trying to keep too many plates spinning at once. Then ‌the busboy bumps into him and sends the plates crashing to the floor.

Each plate, the person said, represented a different pressure point: growing voter unhappiness with the state of the economy, controversy surrounding Trump’s makeover of the U.S. capital and a $1.8 billion “government weaponization” victim fund, the invasion of Venezuela, and the approach of midterm elections.

Then came the war with Iran, which swiftly veered off course and ​intensified domestic pressures as gas prices rose.

Trump has toggled between threatening to destroy Iran and seeking a peace deal as he tries to end a ​conflict that has consumed his presidency. But a deal has so far proven elusive. So, the president of the United States, ⁠like any ordinary individual, is turning his attention to things he can control.

Trump, a billionaire real estate developer, has intensified his focus on reshaping Washington and the White ​House complex.

His state ballroom project with attached military suite is moving forward despite legal challenges. National Park officials are also refinishing the Reflecting Pool between the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial ​using a paint color Trump has called “American flag blue.”

During his Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, he spent around 10 minutes discussing the finer details of the work on the Reflecting Pool, including how workers steam-cleaned, then sand-blasted, then pebble-blasted the pool’s surface.

The White House grounds are currently dominated by construction of a 4,000-seat arena (nicknamed “The Claw”) for a mixed martial arts fight that will coincide with the ​president’s 80th birthday. His administration is also pushing a novel legal theory to justify building a 250-foot triumphal arch without congressional approval.

The projects underscore the limits of ​Trump’s control. Iran is at the top of the list of things he cannot. His administration just days ago was signaling that a deal was near to reopen the Strait of Hormuz ‌and extract ⁠highly enriched nuclear material from the Islamic Republic.

Then the U.S. bombed Iran again. And then again.

Trump told his Cabinet on Wednesday he would accept only a “great deal” to end the war, not a “good deal,” warning that attacks could resume, though the airstrikes appear to have done little to move Iran’s negotiating position.

So, what’s a president to do in the meantime?

Apparently, the World War Two Memorial fountains on the National Mall need work, Trump said. He’s thinking the paint job needs a lighter shade of blue.

Our Reuters colleagues are on the ground with Ukrainian forces, who are battling Russia’s now four-year ​invasion. Ukraine is pouring ⁠resources into “middle strikes” that target Russian air defenses and military logistics between 20 miles and 110 miles behind the front line. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said this month these strikes have quadrupled since February. “The enemy’s rear is no longer a safe haven,” Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said on Wednesday, announcing more than $100 million in new funding for drone attacks.

June 2: ​Primary elections in California, Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota.

June 9: Primary elections in ​Maine, Nevada, North Dakota and South Carolina.

June 15: Trump attends G7 meeting in Evian-les-Bains, France