President Donald Trump is making a play for the history books. And for Republicans, that might be a problem.
The first year of the 79-year-old president's second term has been consumed with assuring his immortality. He's demolished the White House's East Wing to make way for a new 90,000-square foot ballroom that threatens to dwarf the rest of the complex. Where Jacqueline Kennedy's Rose Garden once bloomed, there is now a concrete patio decorated with yellow-striped umbrellas and white metal furniture, fashioned after Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort. His name now hangs outside the Kennedy Center and the Institute of Peace, their signage changed without congressional approval.
He's charging ahead with plans for an Arc de Triomphe-style monument near Arlington National Cemetery, colloquially known as the Arc de Trump. He's rechristened the Monroe Doctrine, the "Don-roe" Doctrine, and used it to suggest that the U.S. should obtain Greenland — a land grab that would be larger than Thomas Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase. There are proposals for new "Trump-class" battleships adorned with his image, TrumpRx drug sales, a Trump Gold Card for immigrants and even a new one-dollar coin honoring America's 250th birthday — with Trump's image on both sides.
One year after his return to power, Trump has sought to recaliberate the global world order and project absolute command over the nation's capital. But his focus on his own legacy has left the Republican Party with few tangible wins on the cost of living — voters' top priority, and the basis for his historic win in the 2024 campaign.
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