Trump blowing up Cabinet secretaries’ phones at all hours over DC renovations

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Workers install a tarp as they do maintenance on the stone of the North Portico of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 9, 2026. REUTERS/Evan Vucci

A CNN panel revealed that the President Donald Trump is calling Cabinet-level secretaries at all hours of the day and night to ask for their opinions on design.

On Thursday, workers hung a massive canvas over the White House featuring an image of the president's planned renovations to the White House columns.

The North and South Portico columns were done in the Ionic style, and features scrolls (which look like swirls) at their tops. It matches the same design repeated in the embellishments all over the outside of the White House.

Speaking about the planned renovations on Thursday, CNN's panel noted that Trump is so focused on his Washington D.C. makeover that he's calling Interior Secretary Doug Burgum at midnight and 8 a.m.

Trump sees it as the "foundation of his legacy," CNN's Betsy Klein said. "This is just the latest example of him trying to impose his style and taste on Washington D.C."

Wall Street Journal reporter Josh Dawsey said that the whole city looks like a construction project because there are so many things Trump is doing. He called the work "staggering."

"And if you talk to people in the White House, he spends so much time on these projects. You saw Doug Burgum, the interior secretary, did an interview with Jonathan Martin from Politico, [where] he said '[Trump is] calling me at eight in the morning. He's calling me at midnight. He's calling me all day long, asking me about all of these various projects.' And the president is so focused on these projects, and maybe you love the president and think this is what he should be spending his time on. I just don't know that in midterm elections it's going to be the number one issue for voters. I guess we'll see."

The panel agreed that the crowds when Trump is out and about aren't as enthused about his construction projects as they are about other issues.

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