7 hours ago
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WASHINGTON — President Trump raised two huge flag poles at the White House Wednesday as part of a “personal project” with a price tag of $100,000 to spruce up the grounds.
The two poles, one on the North Lawn and one on the South Lawn, will cost Trump about $50,000 each to complete, Trump told reporters, heralding their arrival at the executive mansion as an event centuries in the making.
“The White House opened in about 1800, just a tad before that, and I’ve always said, why doesn’t it have a flag pole from the grass?” the president said.
Trump had first announced the 100-foot flag poles would be erected in April, adding to his other projects like renovating the Rose Garden by creating a concrete platform, building a ballroom and redecorating the Oval Office to make it more opulent.
The construction projects are personally interesting to the real-estate mogul, and he’s been envisioning how he would reform the White House for years.
“Only if you’re in construction is this exciting,” Trump said, watching the construction take place. “See you have to get it perfectly straight and once it’s perfect, they pour in the sand and it’s there for 100 years.”
Trump has also taken interest in talking to the construction crews doing the renovations on the lawns,
He was spotted several times in the past weeks making his rounds and discussing the project with workers.
“I don’t know them but I love them, and would bet they all voted for Trump,” he said Monday.
“I gotta get these guys back to work, they’re making a fortune,” he laughed.
“But remember someone in this group is going to captivate some movie producer, not Harvey Weinstein. Harvey’s seen a better day, so it won’t be Harvey, but it’ll be somebody and they’ll say ‘that guy is perfect for a movie’, and you’re going to become a star,” he went on, having fun with the workers standing beside him in front of the cameras.
English (US)