On the left - workers installing Trump’s planned granite seal last week On the right - the helipad today, after granite was dismantled over the weekend Photos via AP and WaPo’s Peter Stevenson (And yes, I have asked repeatedly who’s paying for it.)

Dan Diamond@ddiamond.bsky.social · yesterday

Scoop: Trump has ordered workers to redo weeks of work on his planned White House helipad new WaPo photos show how past work was removed over weekend Trump is contemplating changes to White House lawn's slope, raising bigger Qs about project and cost

Scoop: Trump has ordered workers to redo weeks of work on his planned White House helipad new WaPo photos show how past work was removed over weekend Trump is contemplating changes to White House lawn's slope, raising bigger Qs about project and cost

Trump orders changes to new helipad after weeks of around-the-clock work

Contractors have removed the granite seal that had begun to take shape in recent days, after the president complained about the slope of the White House Lawn.

washingtonpost.com

A definitive tick-tock feature, with four WaPo bylines, about what @rephuffman.bsky.social calls “pretty close to a textbook definition of kakistocracy.” Everyone at the White House offers no-comments. We're days away from Trump complaining that the press is still talking about the Reflecting Pool.

Dan Diamond@ddiamond.bsky.social · 2d ago

Trump vowed his Reflecting Pool changes would last 50 years. They lasted a few days. Our deep dive into a saga that has embarrassed the administration, ensnared passerby and threatened Jeanine Pirro's job. More with @jakespring.bsky.social @megkelly.bsky.social and more.

Trump vowed his Reflecting Pool changes would last 50 years. They lasted a few days. Our deep dive into a saga that has embarrassed the administration, ensnared passerby and threatened Jeanine Pirro's job. More with @jakespring.bsky.social @megkelly.bsky.social and more.

How Trump’s claims of vandalism at the renovated Reflecting Pool crumbled

Trump has lashed out at U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro after she dropped vandalism cases and blamed damage at the pool on rushed and flawed work by a contractor.

washingtonpost.com

Trump disagreeing with Jeanine Pirro, his handpicked attorney for DC, and is insisting again that the reflecting pool damage is the work of vandalism.

Dan Diamond@ddiamond.bsky.social · 5d ago

DOJ has dropped charges against a former Olympian accused of damaging the Reflecting Pool, saying that internal Trump admin documents show the damage was likely due to contractor error. Trump and his aides have publicly blamed the damage on vandals for weeks.

DOJ has dropped charges against a former Olympian accused of damaging the Reflecting Pool, saying that internal Trump admin documents show the damage was likely due to contractor error. Trump and his aides have publicly blamed the damage on vandals for weeks.

Prosecutors drop Reflecting Pool damage charge against former Olympian

Trump has claimed vandals deliberated damaged the pool, but prosecutors say internal documents show it was likely contractor error.

washingtonpost.com

New: Officials want $10M more from Congress to cover recent Freedom 250 events on the National Mall — the fair, the prayer event, the fireworks show. @merkley.senate.gov: “It is unacceptable to ask the American people to bail out Freedom 250."

Trump administration seeks $10 million more for Freedom 250 events

The Interior Department has asked Congress for more money to pay for National Mall events making the country’s 250th anniversary.

washingtonpost.com

BREAKING: Fauci says he is *invoking his 5th Amendment right to not answer ANY questions,* per written testimony Fauci says he believes Rand Paul is seeking to wrongly trap him today

Dan Diamond@ddiamond.bsky.social · last wk.

This morning: TONY FAUCI again faces the Senate, this time in a hearing led by RAND PAUL Fauci and his allies say Paul's claims about "covid coverrup" are baseless Paul says that if Fauci lies today, his pardon won't cover him More with @annalissroy.bsky.social

This morning: TONY FAUCI again faces the Senate, this time in a hearing led by RAND PAUL Fauci and his allies say Paul's claims about "covid coverrup" are baseless Paul says that if Fauci lies today, his pardon won't cover him More with @annalissroy.bsky.social

Fauci set to face Rand Paul, Senate GOP after release of his covid ‘diary’

At a hearing on covid-19, the former infectious-disease official is expected to again fend off claims that he covered up the pandemic’s origins.

washingtonpost.com

I know a lot of people don’t like the people movers (I think they are expensive to upkeep, if I remember) but they have been my favorite part of flying in and out of IAD since I was a kid.

Dan Diamond@ddiamond.bsky.social · last wk.

Trump is set to announce his Dulles makeover on Wednesday, which includes a plan to get rid of the airport's signature "People Movers" and finish building an underground train, per people familiar with the plan. more w @liamjscott.bsky.social

Trump is set to announce his Dulles makeover on Wednesday, which includes a plan to get rid of the airport's signature "People Movers" and finish building an underground train, per people familiar with the plan. more w @liamjscott.bsky.social

Trump set to unveil Dulles makeover after months of personal edits

The president is set to unveil a sweeping plan to rebuild the airport, replacing aging terminals and eliminating the signature "people movers."

washingtonpost.com

News in global health: Sen. Susan Collins announces that GAVI, the vaccine alliance, will get hundreds of millions of dollars in funding after all. Trump officials last year said they would halt funding.

well, that settles it

Trump's Tuesday schedule — 930 am: ZELENSKY — 11 am: NETANYAHU — 2 pm: LINDSEY GRAHAM’s funeral (where Trump will give a euology)

The White House says Trump will watch a drag race in Michigan on Monday

Love to see @hannahnatanson.bsky.social — who’s spent so much time in court after DOJ wrongly took her devices — back where she belongs: with a big front-page story. Terrific piece on a fight over loyalty and Trump’s orders unfolding at West Point.

“The bitterness was sharper even than some of his political rallies, where attacks on his enemies are leavened with boasts of his accomplishments. On Friday, he had little to sell, and a lot to complain about." @mbirnbaum.bsky.social on Trump's Friday night.

Trump’s insult-laden speech to press dinner draws mostly stunned silence

The president addressed a smaller, heavily secured gathering Friday as his administration intensifies its legal and rhetorical attacks on journalists.

washingtonpost.com

Dan Diamond@ddiamond.bsky.social · 2w ago

Trump is now deep into a speech that White House officials said would be “unifying but vicious.” The president — who normally speaks to crowds of fans who laugh at his jokes — is being met by extended silence.

JUST POSTED: A deep investigation by The NYT of shortcuts taken to get President Trump his Qatari-donated plane in time for POTUS to show it off during 250th anniversary events-compromises that leave the plane more vulnerable to potential threats (Free link) www.nytimes.com/2026/07/25/u...

Inside the Rushed Effort to Get Trump His New Air Force One

A New York Times investigation found that President Trump’s push to speed delivery of the aircraft led to ballooning costs and trade-offs in safety features.

nytimes.com

Remarkable camera angle of President Trump as he listens to Wall Street Journal reporters receiving an award for their investigation into Trump’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein — which they pursued despite Trump’s threats and lawsuit.

A panel led by Trump appointees has approved the proposed change to historic preservation rules. The proposed rules — which would loosen protections on historic sites and help Trump build his arch and other projects — now head to OMB for review.

Dan Diamond@ddiamond.bsky.social · 2w ago

The Trump administration is seeking to loosen federal rules intended to protect historic sites and reduce — or even end — the process of soliciting public input. The current rules have held up Trump’s arch. Me + @jakespring.bsky.social at WaPo, matching our pal @janaykingsberry.bsky.social.

I had forgotten how Trump used to make jokes about convincing LeBron James to transition as part of his campaign riff about transgender athletes.

Mark Knoller will be honored/remembered at tonight's White House Correspondents' Association dinner. Here he is attending the 2009 dinner...

another reminder that my personal word list is strikingly different from NYT’s

Covered him for two seasons and was at that NBA draft. And, with Brian Burwell of NY Daily News, saw the traces of coke in the car he had ridden in back to his dorm the morning he overdosed. Saddest day ever.

Dan Diamond@ddiamond.bsky.social · 2w ago

Was browsing the archives and had never realized that @sallyjenx.bsky.social was the beat reporter covering University of Maryland hoops + Len Bias, up until his death 40 years ago. Wow.

Was browsing the archives and had never realized that @sallyjenx.bsky.social was the beat reporter covering University of Maryland hoops + Len Bias, up until his death 40 years ago. Wow.

The Trump administration is seeking to loosen federal rules intended to protect historic sites and reduce — or even end — the process of soliciting public input. The current rules have held up Trump’s arch. Me + @jakespring.bsky.social at WaPo, matching our pal @janaykingsberry.bsky.social.

Trump officials seek to weaken historic-preservation reviews of projects

The Trump administration is moving to rewrite federal historic-preservation rules to give agencies broader authority to advance projects with less public input and narrower protections for historic si...

washingtonpost.com

New: Trump installed a Thomas Jefferson statue in the Rose Garden last week, continuing his statue spree, per ppl familiar. Three of the new Rose Garden statues were provided by HARLAN CROW, conservative collector and donor, we learned. More on Trump’s statue push with @oliviacgeorge.bsky.social.

Trump continues overhaul of White House grounds with new Rose Garden statues

A bronze Thomas Jefferson was installed as the fifth new statue last week. Three were provided by Harlan Crow, a conservative collector and political donor.

washingtonpost.com

I could be wrong, but the FIFA Peace Prize seems larger than many of the actual FIFA awards being handed out today?

the future is here and it is picking images for news alerts

Sen. @ossoff.senate.gov asks Jay Clayton — Trump’s nominee to oversee U.S. intelligence — a simple question: who won the 2020 election? Clayton declines to answer for nearly 2 mins. OSSOFF: Isn't it humiliating to be unable to answer this question? To have to indulge the president's delusions?