{"id":350,"date":"2026-05-28T23:39:03","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T23:39:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=350"},"modified":"2026-05-28T23:39:03","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T23:39:03","slug":"trumps-washington-makeover-intensifies-as-iran-deal-languishes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=350","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s Washington makeover intensifies as Iran deal\u00a0languishes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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May 28 (Reuters) – A cage-fighting arena is rising on the White House South Lawn. I\u2019m Jacob Bogage \u2013 I usually cover the White House, but this week I\u2019ve also been watching construction. Not the state ballroom project, but a UFC fight cage \u2013 the octagon. (Got news tips or feedback? Email me: jacob.bogage@tr.com<\/svg>, opens new tab<\/span>)<\/div>\n
A source close to congressional Republicans \u200bthis week described Donald Trump\u2019s presidency to me as a restaurant ma\u00eetre d’ trying to keep too many plates spinning at once. Then \u200cthe busboy bumps into him and sends the plates crashing to the floor.<\/div>\n
Each plate, the person said, represented a different pressure point: growing voter unhappiness with the state of the economy, controversy surrounding Trump\u2019s makeover of the U.S. capital and a $1.8 billion \u201cgovernment weaponization\u201d victim fund, the invasion of Venezuela, and the approach of midterm elections.<\/div>\n
Then came the war with Iran, which swiftly veered off course and \u200bintensified domestic pressures as gas prices rose.<\/div>\n
Trump has toggled between threatening to destroy Iran and seeking a peace deal as he tries to end a \u200bconflict that has consumed his presidency. But a deal has so far proven elusive. So, the president of the United States, \u2060like any ordinary individual, is turning his attention to things he can control.<\/div>\n
Trump, a billionaire real estate developer, has intensified his focus on reshaping Washington and the White \u200bHouse complex.<\/div>\n
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 \u200busing a paint color Trump has called \u201cAmerican flag blue.\u201d<\/div>\n
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\u2019s surface.<\/div>\n
The White House grounds are currently dominated by construction of a 4,000-seat arena (nicknamed \u201cThe Claw\u201d) for a mixed martial arts fight that will coincide with the \u200bpresident\u2019s 80th birthday. His administration is also pushing a novel legal theory to justify building a 250-foot triumphal arch without congressional approval.<\/div>\n
The projects underscore the limits of \u200bTrump\u2019s 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 \u200cand extract \u2060highly enriched nuclear material from the Islamic Republic.<\/div>\n
Then the U.S. bombed Iran again. And then again.<\/div>\n
Trump told his Cabinet on Wednesday he would accept only a \u201cgreat deal\u201d to end the war, not a \u201cgood deal,\u201d warning that attacks could resume, though the airstrikes appear to have done little to move Iran\u2019s negotiating position.<\/div>\n
So, what\u2019s a president to do in the meantime?<\/div>\n
Apparently, the World War Two Memorial fountains on the National Mall need work, Trump said. He\u2019s thinking the paint job needs a lighter shade of blue.<\/div>\n

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