Since returning to office, Donald Trump has pursued a campaign to stamp his name onto the physical and institutional fabric of the United States. The Kennedy Center, the Institute of Peace, the Pentagon itself — all have been rebranded. Penn Station and Dulles Airport are on his wish list. A 250-foot triumphal arch is in the works near the National Mall. And yet the polling tells a story that should alarm the White House: Americans reject every single one of these projects, and in most cases, so do Trump’s own voters.
By large margins, Americans oppose each of three recent Trump construction projects: building a new White House ballroom, renovating the Trump-Kennedy Center, and building an arch near the Lincoln Memorial. Americans are at least twice as likely to oppose as to support three construction projects recently proposed by Trump: tearing down the East Wing of the White House to build a new ballroom that will seat 1,000 people (58% oppose vs. 25% support), and closing the Trump-Kennedy Center for a two-year renovation (53% oppose). Not a single renaming effort cracks 15% support among the broader electorate.
Even among Trump voters, the numbers are grim. Only 34% support renaming the Kennedy Center, while 42% oppose it — a net negative of nine points. Republicans are slightly more likely to approve than disapprove of renaming the Kennedy Center (40% vs. 33%) and about equally likely to approve and disapprove of renaming Dulles Airport (37% vs. 36%). The sole project that earns majority backing from his own base is the White House ballroom, at 57%.
Infrastructure as Hostage
The rebranding push isn’t just about ego — it has become entangled with billions of dollars in public infrastructure. Trump last month told Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer that he would be willing to unfreeze $16 billion in funding for a major infrastructure project in New York if Schumer would agree to rename New York’s Penn Station and Washington’s Dulles Airport after him. The startling offer was swiftly rejected by Schumer, who told the president he didn’t have the power to deliver on such an unorthodox request.
The Gateway tunnel connecting New York and New Jersey is not some speculative proposal — it is already under construction. The commission in charge of the Gateway tunnel has warned that it will soon have to shut down work on the project and lay off roughly 1,000 workers if the Trump administration does not release the funding it needs. In the weeks since, Trump has continued to withhold the more than $16 billion earmarked for the project, and the two states are now suing the Trump administration over the freeze.
Sen. Bernie Sanders called the pattern bluntly: “For Trump to put his name on federal buildings is arrogant and it is illegal.” His handpicked board voted to add his name to the Kennedy Center, prompting pushback from the Kennedy family, a lawsuit from an Ohio Democratic member of Congress and high-profile performance cancellations. Months later, the Kennedy Center’s ticket sales have plunged.
The Arc de Trump
Then there is the arch. The Memorial Circle arch or Independence Arch is a triumphal arch proposed by Donald Trump that would be located on Columbia Island in Washington, D.C. The 250-foot-tall arch would celebrate the United States’ semiquincentennial. Smaller versions — 165- and 123-foot-tall iterations — were considered, but Trump is “dead-set on building this huge arch.”
At 250 feet, it would stand more than double the height of the 100-foot Lincoln Memorial — and sit dangerously close to flight paths. Trump’s proposed arch would sit only feet from the corridor used for flights approaching Reagan National Airport. A review of the final approach path shows the arch’s proposed location would be at a point where aircraft pass at a low altitude of only 492 feet. That’s the same airspace where a deadly midair collision killed 67 people weeks into Trump’s second term.
Only 21% of Americans support building the arch. Even among Trump voters, just 43% endorse it — hardly a mandate.
Approval in Freefall
The naming spree is unfolding against a backdrop of declining public confidence. A year into his second administration, Americans’ views of Trump have continued to slip. Trump’s approval rating stands at 37%, down from 40% in the fall. By more than two-to-one, Americans say the administration’s actions have been worse than they expected (50%) rather than better (21%).
The erosion is coming from inside the house. While overall confidence in Trump’s ethics in office was already relatively low last February (29%), it has declined 8 percentage points since. And nearly all of that drop has come among Republicans. Nate Silver found that Trump’s approval rating has plummeted to a second-term low of net -15 percentage points.
What the polling reveals is a president chasing a legacy through marble and bronze signage while the public — including the people who elected him — would rather he focus on the cost of groceries, health care, and housing. Slapping your name onto buildings people already love doesn’t build a legacy. It builds resentment. And the numbers show it.
Original analysis inspired by Andrew Mangan from Daily Kos. Additional research and verification conducted through multiple sources.
