President Trump ordered the removal of the White House Peace Vigil on Friday, marking an end to a 44-year protest against the nation’s nuclear weaponry and warfare.
A reporter informed the president of the ongoing protest — now manned by Philipos Melaku-Bello and a group of rotating volunteers — Friday in the Oval Office, describing the long-standing tent as an “eye sore” for visitors supported by the “radical left.”
“I didn’t know that. Take it down. Take it down today, right now,” Trump told staffers inside the White House.
The president has pledged to erase homeless encampments across Washington, D.C., in an effort to clean the streets ahead of the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding.
Unhoused residents have faced a swarm of police officers and National Guard soldiers in recent weeks who have detained them for sleeping outside.
However, the peace vigil in Lafayette Park stands out as a permanent stakeout for free speech and is widely known as the longest continuous act of political protest in U.S. history.
Activist William Thomas propped up the free standing structure in June 1981 parallel to the North Lawn, where dignitaries and world leaders arrive for discussion and dissent.
As years flew by, Thomas remained posted out front of the White House and faithfully manned the station through the course of seven presidents and various wars, until his death in 2016.
Melaku-Bello then took over the site with tattered signs that read “Ban All Nuclear Weapons or Have a Nice Doomsday” and “Live By the Bomb, Die By the Bomb” as a reminder of their push for peace to all who pass by, The Washington Post reported.
Over the years, the tent has drawn the attention of members of Congress who’ve either supported or condemned the collective mission of the White House Peace Vigil.
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) was inspired by the protesters and has repeatedly introduced the Nuclear Weapons Abolition and Conversion Act on behalf of the group.
The legislation would redirect funding for nuclear weapons to other causes, such as the climate crisis, and human and infrastructure needs, such as housing and health care.
Norton has said it would help reestablish the country’s “moral leadership in the world.“
While she’s rallied behind the demonstrators, Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) has advocated for the encampment to be swiftly removed, citing “public safety hazards” in addition to “aesthetic and historical degradation.”
“No group should be above the law, and the continued allowance of this permanent occupation sends the wrong message to law-abiding Americans,” Van Drew wrote in a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum obtained by the Post.
“This isn’t about stopping protest. It’s about upholding the rule of law, preserving one of America’s most iconic public spaces, and ending a double standard that’s made a mockery of both,” he added.
However, Norton told the Post that protesters are well within their right to peacefully assemble outside of the White House on public property.
“The First Amendment protects peaceful protests, even when they’re seen as unsightly or inconvenient, and even when they occur in front of the White House,” Norton said in the statement.
“The Peace Vigil has stood in front of the White House for more than 30 years, with its organizers engaged in principled activism at considerable personal cost. If Representative Van Drew’s claim that the vigil creates public safety hazards were valid, it would have been removed long ago.”
President Donald Trump is scheduled to make an unspecified announcement on Tuesday afternoon following days of rumors about his health.
The president will make “an announcement” from the Oval Office at 2 p.m. ET, according to the daily guidance and press schedule issued by the White House on Monday night.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Newsweek: “The President will be making an exciting announcement related to the Department of Defense.”
Why It Matters
False rumors that Trump had died began circulating on social media on Friday, after some noted he had not been seen in public for several days after attending a Cabinet meeting on August 26. He also had no public events over the Labor Day weekend.
Thousands of posts were shared on X, featuring hashtags including #whereistrump and #TRUMPDIED. Posts speculating about Trump’s possible demise had acquired over 1.3 million user engagements as of Saturday morning, according to Grok, X’s AI-powered chatbot.
Some 158,000 X posts including the phrase ‘TRUMP IS DEAD’ and 42,000 stating ‘TRUMP DIED’ had been made as of 7:48 a.m. ET on Saturday, according to the platform’s analytics. Some continued posting about the rumor, though engagement dropped after Trump was pictured heading to his golf course in Virginia on Saturday. Photos of Trump departing the White House on Labor Day were also circulated by Getty Images.
What To Know
According to the schedule issued by the White House, the presidential press pool will be in attendance during the president’s announcement.
The pool on Tuesday includes television crews from Fox and Gray TV, meaning the announcement will likely be broadcast or streamed live.
But the lack of detail in the schedule prior to Leavitt’s statement had prompted speculation on social media. Despite Trump addressing rumors about his health on Sunday night, some continued to question the nature of the announcement, with some suggesting it could be related to a possible resignation.
“NEVER FELT BETTER IN MY LIFE,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social, in response to a post from a MAGA influencer who claimed the “media freaks out” if he disappears for 24 hours.
Questions about the president’s health were also spurred by new photos showing bruising on his hand. In July, the White House said Trump had been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency (CVI), which his physician described as “benign and common.”
Days earlier, Vice President JD Vance said in an interview with USA Today that he was “very confident the President of the United States is in good shape, is going to serve out the remainder of his term and do great things for the American people.”
“And if, God forbid, there’s a terrible tragedy, I can’t think of better on-the-job training than what I’ve gotten over the last 200 days,” he added.
What People Are Saying
Political commentator Keith Olbermann wrote on X: “BREAKING: Oh nothing. Just a president who talks compulsively but has not spoken publicly in a week scheduling ‘an announcement’ at 2 PM tomorrow, per Trump official WH schedule.”
The Republicans against Trump account wrote on X: “Is he resigning?”
Spectrum News reporter Taylor Popielarz wrote on X that Tuesday’s announcement will be Trump’s “first open press event since last Tuesday’s cabinet meeting — the longest stretch of Trump’s second term without one. The president spoke with @reaganreese_ for nearly an hour last Friday for an off-camera interview with the @DailyCaller, but he otherwise has not interacted with the press in seven days.”
Charlotte Clymer, a writer and activist, wrote on Bluesky: The only important thing about tomorrow’s press conference is whether Trump can dispel the serious concerns over his health. Can he convince the public he’s not experiencing severe medical issues? Get up there, do announcement, take questions, and act normal. It shouldn’t be difficult, and yet…”
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-announcement-health-speculation-2122977
In the words of White Stripes singer Jack White, “It’s now a vulgar, gold leafed and gaudy professional wrestler’s dressing room.”
For decades, every president has made the Oval Office his own.
John F. Kennedy specially chose a rug in Harvard crimson, although he did not live to see its installation. Richard Nixon’s office featured a navy rug with gold stars, accented by gold curtains. Jimmy Carter surrounded himself with warmer, more natural shades. George H.W. Bush opted for powder blue as both a floor and window treatment.
The presidents have chosen different sofas, different coffee tables, different books for the shelves, different knick-knacks for the tables and paintings for the walls.
But none have had the aesthetic impact of President Donald Trump.
In his second term, Trump has endeavored to leave a more lasting footprint on the White House by drawing on his long career in real estate development. He paved the Rose Garden’s grassy center, erected two enormous flag poles and revealed plans to build a large ballroom on the East Wing to host events.
Trump’s Oval Office, though, has been the site of the most striking transformation so far.
The iconic space has been positively drenched in gold — curtains, of course, but also vases, frames, trophies, platters and vast amounts of gilding, including shiny curlicued moldings that ensure no part of the wall is left blank. This style is either Rococo or decidedly not Rococo.
An ivy plant that had adorned the Oval Office fireplace for over a half-century was replaced by lifeless objects. (The Washington Post figured out the ivy had been relocated to a greenhouse for safekeeping.)
Trump, it seems, has cast aside norms in decorating just as quickly in his second term as he has cast aside norms in governing. Anyone familiar with Trump Tower in Manhattan or his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida will not be surprised to see the full extent of his changes to the Oval, given his instinct to gild the properties that bear his name.
But that is also why his changes rub some people the wrong way. The White House — the People’s House — is not Trump’s own. First families may make changes to the residence to make it feel more comfortable during their stay, but the Oval Office is not part of a Trump-branded enterprise.
In the words of White Stripes singer Jack White, “It’s now a vulgar, gold leafed and gaudy professional wrestler’s dressing room.”
….
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-oval-office-gold-gilding_n_68910956e4b06ab33893e975
