Trump Plans to Create a Promenade at the Lincoln Memorial

 

Trump Plans to Create a Promenade at the Lincoln Memorial

 

The president announced a new project that would connect the memorial to the Potomac River. He isn’t sure if he wants it to be named after himself.

 

Luke Broadwater

By Luke Broadwater

Luke Broadwater is a White House reporter, and has covered President Trump’s renovation projects around Washington.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/04/us/politics/trump-lincoln-memorial-promenade.html

June 4, 2026

 

President Trump on Thursday announced his latest construction project in his campaign to remake Washington: a new walkway in the back of the Lincoln Memorial.

 

“We’re going to call it the promenade,” Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “They want to call it the Trump Promenade, but I don’t know if I want to do that. But it’s going to be beautiful. It’s a beautiful project, and it’s going to take the Lincoln Memorial right down to the Potomac.”

 

The National Park Service is already at work on a major renovation of the Lincoln Memorial. The $69 million project, scheduled to be completed in July, adds an immersive museum beneath the memorial and other upgrades to the visitor experience.

 

Mr. Trump’s plan for a promenade would be just his latest construction job since regaining the presidency. He has taken several steps to remake the capital in his image and to remodel the White House, including by covering the Oval Office in gold and paving the grass of the Rose Garden. The president is also planning to construct a 250-foot “Triumphal Arch” and a National Garden of American Heroes, which would feature 250 statues.

 

But the most dramatic step was his sudden demolition last fall of the White House’s East Wing to make way for his planned 90,000-square-foot ballroom.

 

Luke Broadwater covers the White House for The Times.