Get to the chopper… but not yet. More construction is underway at the White House, as President Trump has directed contractors to redo their work on the new helipad, a project that started at the beginning of July. Photos taken show crews taking apart their hard work. According to the Washington Post, Trump is “frustrated with its appearance”, and is questioning its placement on the sloped lawn of the White House. Two anonymous sources say he’s debating whether “the slope of the White House lawn needs to be changed.” You cannot question an artist’s process.
Construction began on the helipad even before it was announced publicly, with the goal of completing the project before President Xi Jinping visits in late September. There will be many grumbles about the “government efficiency” of scrapping a construction project and starting over. But the effort is funded through a donation by Lockheed Martin, which owns Sikorsky Aircraft, the company that makes the helicopters. The project is intended to find a solution to a long-standing problem, per a White House statement provided to the Post. The South Lawn is known to slope downward, exceeding the norm for helipads. The VH-92A Patriot, made by Sikorsky Aircraft, is likely to cause grass-scorching due to the placement of the exhaust vents. What masculine context!
Cockburn pictures Trump pacing the lawn himself, shaking his head, arms crossed. It’s not easy having a vision, because let’s face it; few do. “For years, the White House has desperately needed a proper Helipad on White House grounds that will allow the President to land safely and also protect the beautiful South Lawn grass from the fierce exhaust fumes of the incredible Marine One,” Davis Ingle said in a statement. “Thanks to President Trump, the White House has never looked better, and it will only continue to get better under his leadership.”
While it isn’t clear how much additional funding or time the helipad change will require, Cockburn adds the renovation to Trump’s list of Washington, DC makeovers. While he waits to use the helipad to land Marine One, maybe the President can land on another empty surface in DC: the basin of the reflecting pool.
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