Donald Trump's
Troubled MonumentsPersonal Note: As webmaster of the world's largest on-line database of peace monuments, I recently noticed that our new president seems to have an uneasy relationship with certain monuments. So much else is being written about President Trump that I thought his relationship with monuments might be overlooked. So I created this web page as a running record. Please tell me what you think, and bring other examples to my attention. Thank you.
Definition: A "monument" can be anything physical & permanent which represents a person, idea, place or event which its creator(s) or owner(s) want future generations to notice & appreciate. Some monuments are purpose built; others are "unintentional," i.e. not constructed to be monuments but acquire a reputation as so big, so beautiful, or so important that their survival is assured (at least for a while). Monuments are usually but not necessarily outdoors. They can be any size. They can be as small as dinner plates. In the United States, "National Monuments" are administrated by the National Park Service & can be larger than some entire countries, e.g. Luxembourg.
Selection: As a builder, Donald Trump is associated with many buildings, resorts, golf clubs, etc., any which could be considered to be a "monument." However, this web page is selective & includes only the best known & most interesting monuments. Some of the selected monuments were built by Trump, and some are public monuments he made news by visiting.
Biography (from Wikipeida): "Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is the 45th & current President of the United States, in office since January 20, 2017. Before entering politics, he was a businessman & television personality. Trump was born in the New York City borough of Queens. He earned an economics degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. For 45 years, he managed The Trump Organization, the real estate development firm founded by his paternal grandmother. His business career focused on building or renovating office towers, hotels, casinos & golf courses. He started several side ventures & branded various products with his name. He produced & hosted The Apprentice television series for 12 years. As of 2017, he was the 544th richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of $3.5 billion. /// Trump had long expressed interest in politics. He entered the 2016 presidential race as a Republican & defeated 16 opponents in the primaries. Commentators described his political positions as populist, protectionist & nationalist. His campaign received extensive free media coverage; many of his public statements were controversial or false. Trump won the general election on November 8, 2016, in a surprise victory against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. He became the oldest & wealthiest person ever to assume the presidency the first without prior military or government service, & the fifth to have won the election despite receiving fewer popular votes [2,865,075 fewer to be exact]. His election & policies sparked numerous protests. /// In the first months of his presidency, Trump reversed several policies of former President Barack Obama: he withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership & the Paris Climate Agreement, and he undid parts of the Cuban thaw. Trump appointed Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. He ordered a travel ban on citizens from six Muslim-majority countries, which was partially implemented after several legal challenges. After Trump dismissed FBI Director James Comey, the Justice Department appointed his predecessor Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate Russia's interference in the presidential election, potential links between Russia & Trump campaign associates & any related matters."
Click here for "List of things named after Donald Trump" by Wikipedia.
Right click image to enlarge.
1949 - House, Wareham Place, Queens, New York City, New York (USA). Donald Trump [born in 1946] & his family lived here 1949-1953. "The house, while solid, is a modest affair, especially by Trump standards, with normal-size rooms & a tiny front yard. Fred C. Trump built it in 1940 for his wife & their first two children." /// "The house has become another curiosity in the vast orbit of properties connected to Mr. Trump, even though he last lived in the five-bedroom home when he was 4. The house's intrigue lies not just in the price it fetched [in March 2017] in an auction by Paramount Realty USA - $2.14 million, more than double the price of comparable houses in the area - but also in the mystery surrounding the [Chinese] buyer. She remains unknown, shrouded behind the limited liability company." /// Click here for "In Search of Donald Trump at His Boyhood Home" by the New York Times (August 21, 2017).
1966-1968 - "The new student arrived at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton business school in 1966, driving a Ford convertible & sporting a mop of blond hair as outsized as his ambitions. A junior transfer from Fordham University in the Bronx, the young man was an outsider on the Ivy League campus in Philadelphia, with few friends. But that did not temper his swagger. When a professor asked students in his small class why they had chosen to study real estate, the new student stood up. 'I'm going to be the king of New York real estate.'"
May 15, 1984-September 16, 2014 - Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino closes in Atlantic City, New Jersery (USA). "Trump Plaza is a closed hotel & casino on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City owned by Trump Entertainment Resorts. This was the fourth Atlantic City casino to close in 2014, after the Atlantic Club, Showboat & Revel. The closure left approximately 1,300 employees out of work." /// "An analysis by USA Today published in June 2016 found that over the previous three decades, Trump & his businesses have been involved in 3,500 legal cases in US federal courts and state courts, an unprecedented number for a US presidential candidate."
1985 - Mar-a-Lago Resort, Palm Beach, Florida (USA). "The 20th largest mansion in the USA. The 126-room, 62,500-square-foot house contains a members-only club with guest rooms, a spa & other hotel-style amenities. The Trump family maintains private quarters in a separate, closed-off area of the house & grounds, and since becoming President, Trump has frequently stayed there, referring to it as his 'Southern White House.'" /// "Mar-a-Lago was built in 1924-1927 by cereal-company heiress & socialite Marjorie Merriweather Post [1887-1973] who bequeathed the property to the National Park Service, hoping it could be used for state visits or as a Winter White House. However, maintaining the property exceeded the funds provided by Post, and the property was returned to the Post Foundation by an Act of Congress in 1981 & was purchased by Trump in 1985." /// "Trump's vaunted trips to his Mar-a-Lago 'winter White House' have been estimated at $3.6 million each. The leftist Center for American Progress think tank guesses his 11 total trips to Mar-a-Lago & Bedminster golf course [qv] [in 6 months] since taking office have cost $29 million. (Politifact only rates this estimate 'half true' as there are lots of variables to each trip's costs. Even so, it writes, 'It's reasonable to assume that Trump's multiple weekends at Mar-a-Lago cost taxpayers millions.')" /// Chinese President Xi Jinping was present at Mar-a-Largo on April 6, 2017, when Trump ordered the launching of 59 missiles into Syria in response to an April 4 sarin gas attack on the Syrian town of Khan Sheikoun... In an interview on April 10, Trump described how he & President Xi ate 'the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake that you've ever seen,' while America prepared to launch the missile strike."
1985-2016 - "When Donald Trump bought the development rights to a big chunk of Manhattan's West Side in 1985, his original plan was characteristically huge. The proposed development included thousands of apartments, a giant new headquarters for NBC & what would have been the world's tallest building, a skyscraper that the New Yorker's Mark Singer described as 'an exotically banal hundred-and-fifty-story phallus.' /// None of that came to pass. Trump couldn't get the city to back his plans - or give him the enormous tax breaks he wanted - and investors from Hong Kong eventually took over the site & made plans to build some less-Trumpian condo buildings there. But Trump, who was still a minor partner in the development, wasn't done proposing over-the-top plans. In 1997, the year construction on the site got underway, he floated the idea of putting an enormous bronze statue of Christopher Columbus - 'six feet taller than the Statue of Liberty' the Guardian reported - by Russian artist Zurab Tsereteli on 'his' turf. 'It's got $40 million worth of bronze in it, and Zurab would like it to be at my West Side Yards development,' he told Singer at the time. 'The mayor of Moscow has written a letter to Rudy Giuliani stating that they would like to make a gift of this great work.' /// This latest plan didn't work, either, and that's probably for the best. Tsereteli had already erected another giant statue that year, building a huge monument to Peter the Great in Moscow that was so hideous that people reportedly tried to blow it up. The Columbus statue, which Tsereteli eventually built, was also notoriously ugly. The Baltimore Sun nicknamed it 'From Russia With Ugh' when some local businessman tried to plant the statue there. But Baltimore, along with New York, Columbus, Ohio, & Miami, all rejected it. It wasn't until this month [June 2016], after almost 20 years of homelessness, that the statue found a [home on the coast of Arecibo] in Puerto Rico."
July 10, 2010 - Marker, Trump International Golf Links, Aberdeenshire (Scotland). Text: "Trump International Golf Links, Scotland, was conceived and built by Donald J. Trump, and officially opened on July 10, 1012. Encompassing the world's largest dunes, The Great Dunes of Scotland, Mr. Trump and his architect, Dr. Martin Hawtree, delicately weaved these magnificent golf holes through this unparralleled 600 acre site running along the majestic North Sea. The unprecedented end result is, according to many, the greatest golf course anywhere in the world!" /// N.B.: I cannot confirm that these are "the world's largest dunes." The on-line worldwide DuneGuide.com does not even mention Scotland. See July 23, 2016.
2011 - Trump Winery, Charlottesville, Virginia (USA). "Stunning 1,300-acre estate...Just a few miles from James Monroe's Highland & Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, the birthplace of American viticulture. We pride ourselves on creating the finest terroir-driven sparkling, white & red wines, which have won numerous national & international medals & best-in-class designations. Planted with 210 acres of French vinifera varieties, Trump Winery is Virginia's largest vineyard & the largest vinifera vineyard on the East Coast. Since opening in 2011, our Tasting Room has delighted guests with its warm atmosphere, gourmet cuisine & sweeping vineyard views. Our unparalleled hospitality & engaging lineup of signature events transform first-time visitors into enthusiastic regulars. With multiple awe-inspiring & fully-customizable event venues, we have the ongoing honor of being a part of our guests' most important celebrations. In 2015, we proudly opened Albemarle Estate at Trump Winery, a boutique luxury hotel offering guests the opportunity to stay at one of the most prestigious & architecturally significant residences in history. The 26,000 square-foot, 45-room mansion has been called 'one of America's true treasures.' Surrounded by vineyards & beautiful countryside, our guests enjoy an extensive list of amenities & signature Trump quality & service." /// "Patricia Kluge, Who Built What Became Trump Winery, Says the Wine Is 'Not Good Anymore.'" [August 17, 2017].
October 26, 2016 - Trump International Hotel, 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC (USA). Former US Post Office leased from the US General Services Administration (GSA) by the Trump Organization. Formally opened as a Trump hotel during the election campaign. (NB: Address of the White House is 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.)
January 12, 2017 - Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument, Birmingham, Alabama (USA). "Includes portions of the Historic Birmingham Civil Rights District, including the A.G. Gaston Motel, the neighboring Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, the 16th Street Baptist Church (where four black girls were killed in a KuKluxKlan bombing in 1963), Bethel Baptist Church, Kelly Ingram Park, the Colored Masonic Temple, St. Paul Lutheran Church & portions of the 4th Avenue Business District." /// One of 5 new national monuments decreed at the same time by outgoing President Barak Obama under the Antiquities Act of 1906.
April 26, 2017 - President Trump signed an executive order calling for Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to review [27] national monuments created by Presidents Clinton, George W. Bush and Obama. These monuments were set aside as public land under the 1906 Antiquities Act, which gives presidents the power to limit use of public land for historic, cultural, scientific or other reasons. /// Zinke will review the Bears Ears monument first, he said, and will make a recommendation to the president in 45 days. Obama created the Bears Ears National Monument in the final days of his administration, arguing that it would protect the cultural legacy of Native American tribes & preserve 'scenic & historic landscapes.' But Utah's governor & the state's congressional delegation opposed the designation, saying it went against the wishes of citizens eager for development. Utah Governor Gary Herbert & Senators Mike Lee & Orin Hatch stood beside Trump as he signed the order. Trump said the lawmakers actively lobbied him for this order." /// See June 12, 2017.
May 21, 2017 - Trump poses with "glowing orb" in Ridyah (Saudi Arabia). "When President Donald Trump set his hands on a glowing orb during his first foreign trip, social media lit up with science fiction jokes. [They] mused that the image, in which Trump touches a globe with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz & Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, resembled a scene where villains enact their master plan. And there were Photoshops galore... In reality, Trump had touched the globe as part of an inauguration ceremony for the Global Center for Combatting Extremist Ideology. Together, the three leaders placed their hands on the globe to start a film about the center."
May 23, 2017 - Trump visits Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem (Israel). Left image shows Donald & Melania placing wreath in the Hall of Remembrance overseen by his daughter Ivanka, son-in-law Jared Kushner, Benjamin Netanyahu, et al). Right two images compare note left by Trump in 2027 to note left by President Obama in 2008. "President Trump's entry in the guest book...was strangely upbeat, self-referential & written in his signature all-caps: “IT IS A GREAT HONOR TO BE HERE WITH ALL OF MY FRIENDS — SO AMAZING & WILL NEVER FORGET!” The brevity & tone of the note may have been a function of the hurry the president was in during his time at the site. Packing so much into just 27 hours in Israel left only half an hour for the memorial, a customary stop on presidential visits, which precluded him from getting a full tour of the museum. Trump already had come under fire for that perceived slight to the memorial before his one-sentence missive started raising eyebrows & making headlines."
May 25, 2017 - Berlin Wall Memorial, NATO Headquarters, Brussels (Belgium). Made of 2 sections of the Berlin Wall. "Ahead of the meeting of the NATO leaders today, German Chancellor Angela Merkel dedicated the Berlin Wall Memorial, and US President Donald Trump [dedicated] the 9/11 & Article 5 Memorial, at NATO’s new headquarters in Brussels. Addressing Allied leaders, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the memorials showed 'NATO will always defend the values on which our Alliance is founded.'"
July 6, 2017 - Trump speaks (en route to G-20 meeting in Hamburg, Germany) at Pomnik Powstania Warszawskiego / Warsaw Uprising Monument, Krasinski Square, Warsaw (Poland), which was dedicated August 1, 1989. "The larger, elevated element shows a group of insurgents actively...running from the artistic vision of a collapsing building... The smaller element (right image) shows insurgents descending into a manhole – a reference to the use of Warsaw's sewer system by the insurgents to move across German-held territory during the uprising..." /// Trump spoke here instead of visiting the Warsaw Ghetto (as all previous presidents did when visiting Warsaw).
July 14, 2017 - "France treated President Donald Trump to an elaborate military display on Friday, a strategic show of friendship by the new leader here who hopes to elevate his country's global standing by flattering his US counterpart. Thousands of French troops paraded down the Champs-Élysées in a dramatic show of pageantry to mark the storming of the Bastille military prison in 1789, a turning point in the French Revolution. Trump & French President Emmanuel Macron reviewed the procession side-by-side from a stand at the Place de la Concorde, appearing in periodic & friendly conversation during the two-hour spectacle, which included 241 horses, 63 airplanes & 29 helicopters all advancing down & above the tree-lined avenue... This year, the celebration is also meant to commemorate the centennial of US entry into World War I, hence Macron's invitation to Trump to attend. In addition to the display of French military might, the parade was augmented by about 150 US soldiers, airmen, sailors & Marines, as well as American aircraft participating in the flyover. All told, Trump & Macron spent upwards of five hours in one-on-one time during Trump's 30-hour visit to the French capital. Unlike past French presidents, Macron speaks nearly perfect English & could converse easily without a translator. Added to his earlier meetings with Trump last month, Macron is now the foreign leader who has spent the most time with the US leader since he took office in January..."
July 25, 2017 - "Donald Trump will not say that he wants his beautiful face to be added to Mount Rushmore one day, but we all know he does. You see, during his Tuesday rally in Youngstown, Ohio, the president literally screamed (despite standing in front of a working microphone) to his audience all about the historical structure, asking if his massive stone facial profile would one day join his pals Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt & Lincoln. 'Every single president on Mount Rushmore,' Trump yelled before sharing his hypothetical dreams with the world. 'I'd ask whether or not you think I will someday be on Mount Rushmore, but here's the problem: If I did it joking, totally joking, having fun, the fake news media will say "he believes he should be on Mount Rushmore,"' he said. 'So I won't say it, okay? I won't say it,' the president went on, after technically already saying it. Without missing a beat, Twitter users went in on Trump, mocking his attacks on the media & the fact that he's already talking about a potential spot on Rushmore after only six months of serving the country. And of course, they provided photoshopped pics of Trump's head on the mountain to give us all a horrifying preview."
August 9, 2017 - Dual Rallies -- the first (7-7:30 pm) Hiroshima & Nagasaki Public Remembrance & Peace Vigil to commemorate the atomic bombings. The second (7:30-8:30 pm) "Orange is the New Orange" to prevent new nuclear wars, election theft, planetary destruction, etc., to commemorate the 1974 resignation of Richard Nixon & to demand that Donald Trump do the same. ("Trump was not legitimately elected. He presents a clear & present danger of inciting a new nuclear war. Then-Pentagon advisor Daniel Ellsberg says Nixon wanted to use nukes in Vietnam but was stopped by the anti-war movement. A similar message will be sent to Trump.")
Date: Nagasaki/Nixon Day (72th anniversary of the Nagasaki atomic bomb in 1945 AND 43th anniversary of the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1964). Site: "Chain Reaction," Santa Monica Civic Center, Santa Monica, California (USA). Directly across the street from Rand Corporation headquarters (monument visible at bottom of right image). Sponsors: Physicians for Social Responsibility Los Angeles, Pax Christi of Southern California, Solartopia, International Health & Epidemiology Research Center & Friends of Chain Reaction. Speakers will include Mimi Kennedy, Blase Bonpane (Office of the Americas), Lila Garrett, Denise Duffield (Associate Director of PSR-LA), Mike Walsh (Pax Christi), Harvey Wasserman (host of California Solartopia); Farideh Kioumehr (IHERC) & Jerry Rubin (Friends of Chain Reaction), as well as other peace, anti-nuclear & environmental activists & religious leaders. Information courtesy of Jerry Rubin & Harvey Wasserman 28July2017. /// "Chain Reaction" is a 26-foot mushroom cloud made from links of a massive chain. Text of plaque: "This is a statement of peace. May it never become an epitaph. Paul Conrad 1991." Designed by Paul Conrad [1924-2010], chief editorial cartoonist for the Los Angeles Times 1964-1993."
September 19, 2017 - "'It was the wrong speech, at the wrong time, to the wrong audience,' Swedish foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom expressed about what global & US audiences helplessly had to endure during President Donald Trump's address to the United Nations General Assembly. President Trump acted like a bully, but unaware that he showed up at the wrong playground. The UN was founded after World War II 'to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind...' There is no doubt that the UN has never fully reached its potential, & without fundamental reform it never will. The spirit, however, is laid out clearly in the UN Charter. While being center stage at the UN General Assembly, an assembly where global collaboration is emphasized, Trump bragged about the United States, fueled division & threatened other nations. The threat to 'totally destroy North Korea' is beyond any form of acceptability, regardless if it is rhetorical or real. It is therefore important to challenge Trump's own words. We must not forget that he is the Commander-in-Chief with the authority to launch nuclear weapons..." -- By Patrick T. Hiller, September 21, 2017, PeaceVoice.
December 9, 2017 - Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, 222 North Street, Jackson, Mississippi (USA). "Eight galleries focus on the years 1945-1976 when Mississippi was ground zero for the national Civil Rights Movement." /// "President Trump's presence at the [dedication] drew a sharp rebuke from some prominent African-American elected officials & civil rights leaders, prompting some of them to skip the opening altogether. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga.; Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss.; & Derrick Johnson, president & CEO of the NAACP, all publicly declared that they were not going to the opening ceremony, citing what they said was Trump's tendency to stir racial divisions & his questionable record on civil rights issues of importance to ethnic & racial minorities."
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