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Preservationists sue Trump over plans to paint Eisenhower building
Preservationists sue Trump over plans to paint Eisenhower building
The complaint alleges Trump’s plan would ‘permanently alter one of the most architecturally significant and historic structures in the Nation’s Capital'
November 14, 2025 at 9:44 p.m. EST 9 minutes ago
5 min
The Eisenhower Executive Office Building as seen Friday from the newly reopened Washington Monument. (Andrew Leyden/Getty Images)
By Jonathan Edwards
Preservationists concerned by President Donald Trump’s public musings this week about painting a 137-year-old building next to the White House completely white sued him Friday to halt the work, arguing that he could not unilaterally alter “one of the most architecturally significant and historic structures in the Nation’s Capital.”
Trump had taken aim at the stately Eisenhower Executive Office Building in a television interview that aired Wednesday on FOX, saying “it was always considered an ugly building.” He was particularly irked by its color, which he said was too dour for the White House’s next-door neighbor. ... “Gray is for funerals,” he told his interviewer, Laura Ingraham. ... Trump vowed to make it “beautiful,” showing Ingraham a mock-up that turned the normally slate gray exterior into a palatial white. ... “Look at it, how beautiful that is with a coat of paint,” he said.
The DC Preservation League and Cultural Heritage Partners, a law firm focused on historic preservation, took Trump seriously and scrambled to slow down any plans, given his recent demolition of the East Wing of the White House. On Friday, the groups asked a federal court to issue an emergency injunction prohibiting Trump and other federal officials from altering the building unless they complete legally required reviews. In a 35-page complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the plaintiffs accused Trump of trying to end-run legally-mandated public input into changes to historic buildings — echoing a complaint lodged by critics of his East Wing teardown.
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The Eisenhower building on Aug. 17. (Michael A. McCoy/For The Washington Post)
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"This landmark has survived 137 years without being covered in white paint,” [Greg Werkheiser, founding partner of the Cultural Heritage Partners law firm,] said in a statement. “It won’t hurt the President to take a minute to follow the law.”
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By Jonathan Edwards
Jonathan Edwards is a national reporter covering the White House. Before joining The Post, he covered public safety for The Virginian-Pilot and Lincoln Journal Star.follow on Xjonathanreports
The complaint alleges Trump’s plan would ‘permanently alter one of the most architecturally significant and historic structures in the Nation’s Capital'
November 14, 2025 at 9:44 p.m. EST 9 minutes ago
5 min
The Eisenhower Executive Office Building as seen Friday from the newly reopened Washington Monument. (Andrew Leyden/Getty Images)
By Jonathan Edwards
Preservationists concerned by President Donald Trump’s public musings this week about painting a 137-year-old building next to the White House completely white sued him Friday to halt the work, arguing that he could not unilaterally alter “one of the most architecturally significant and historic structures in the Nation’s Capital.”
Trump had taken aim at the stately Eisenhower Executive Office Building in a television interview that aired Wednesday on FOX, saying “it was always considered an ugly building.” He was particularly irked by its color, which he said was too dour for the White House’s next-door neighbor. ... “Gray is for funerals,” he told his interviewer, Laura Ingraham. ... Trump vowed to make it “beautiful,” showing Ingraham a mock-up that turned the normally slate gray exterior into a palatial white. ... “Look at it, how beautiful that is with a coat of paint,” he said.
The DC Preservation League and Cultural Heritage Partners, a law firm focused on historic preservation, took Trump seriously and scrambled to slow down any plans, given his recent demolition of the East Wing of the White House. On Friday, the groups asked a federal court to issue an emergency injunction prohibiting Trump and other federal officials from altering the building unless they complete legally required reviews. In a 35-page complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the plaintiffs accused Trump of trying to end-run legally-mandated public input into changes to historic buildings — echoing a complaint lodged by critics of his East Wing teardown.
{snip}
The Eisenhower building on Aug. 17. (Michael A. McCoy/For The Washington Post)
{snip}
"This landmark has survived 137 years without being covered in white paint,” [Greg Werkheiser, founding partner of the Cultural Heritage Partners law firm,] said in a statement. “It won’t hurt the President to take a minute to follow the law.”
{snip}
By Jonathan Edwards
Jonathan Edwards is a national reporter covering the White House. Before joining The Post, he covered public safety for The Virginian-Pilot and Lincoln Journal Star.follow on Xjonathanreports
5 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Paint Job
President Trump shares plans for “cleaning, pointing, and painting” the Eisenhower Executive Office Building
By Daniel Jonas Roche • November 14, 2025 • Architecture, East, News, Preservation
On social media, Trump shared before-and-after renderings of the building’s granite facade repainted white. (Truth Social)
The Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB) faces the White House. It’s home to 1,500 federal employees in the President’s executive office, including the Office of the Vice President, the Department of the Treasury, and the Department of War (previously Defense). The EEOB is where Elon Musk was rumored to have been sleeping on the floor, before his falling out with the President.
Soon, the EEOB will be given the Trump treatment with a new paint job, the President told Fox News this week. Trump said to Laura Ingraham the project entails “cleaning, pointing, and painting.” He first shared before-and-after renderings of this vision for the EEOB in August, and is now soliciting bids from painters for the project. ... In the Oval Office this week, Ingraham asked Trump if he’s worried about turning the EEOB into a “big white blob.” Trump said no, and that the renovation is about “bringing out the detailing.”
The rehabilitation denotes the latest architectural project Trump has taken upon himself in Washington D.C. Recently, Trump gutted the bathroom flanking the Lincoln Bedroom. He has likewise emblazoned gold decor (from Home Depot?) on the walls of the Oval Office and Cabinet Room, paved over the Rose Garden, and knocked down the East Wing to make way for a $300 million ballroom. ... Now, he has his sights set on the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
The Eisenhower Executive Office Building today (Abovfold/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY 4.0)
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President Trump shares plans for “cleaning, pointing, and painting” the Eisenhower Executive Office Building
By Daniel Jonas Roche • November 14, 2025 • Architecture, East, News, Preservation
On social media, Trump shared before-and-after renderings of the building’s granite facade repainted white. (Truth Social)
The Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB) faces the White House. It’s home to 1,500 federal employees in the President’s executive office, including the Office of the Vice President, the Department of the Treasury, and the Department of War (previously Defense). The EEOB is where Elon Musk was rumored to have been sleeping on the floor, before his falling out with the President.
Soon, the EEOB will be given the Trump treatment with a new paint job, the President told Fox News this week. Trump said to Laura Ingraham the project entails “cleaning, pointing, and painting.” He first shared before-and-after renderings of this vision for the EEOB in August, and is now soliciting bids from painters for the project. ... In the Oval Office this week, Ingraham asked Trump if he’s worried about turning the EEOB into a “big white blob.” Trump said no, and that the renovation is about “bringing out the detailing.”
The rehabilitation denotes the latest architectural project Trump has taken upon himself in Washington D.C. Recently, Trump gutted the bathroom flanking the Lincoln Bedroom. He has likewise emblazoned gold decor (from Home Depot?) on the walls of the Oval Office and Cabinet Room, paved over the Rose Garden, and knocked down the East Wing to make way for a $300 million ballroom. ... Now, he has his sights set on the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
The Eisenhower Executive Office Building today (Abovfold/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY 4.0)
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