A look back at the White House Rose Garden as Trump's paved makeover nears completion
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s paved makeover of the White House’s Rose Garden appears to be nearly finished.
The garden’s previously grassy lawn was fully covered by pavement as construction crews put the final touches on Trump’s project Friday. The last rows of pavers were put in place as workers taped off their edges.
It’s part of Trump’s bigger plan to add his own flourishes to the Executive Mansion and its grounds. His updates have already added flagpoles to the North and South Lawns, and he wants to build a new ballroom on the grounds.
The Republican president said in March he’d pave over the Rose Garden because the grass is always wet and is an inconvenience for women in high heels. The project was expected to be finished in August.
President Ronald Reagan is pulled along by his pet dog Lucky, while he and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher take a stroll in the White House Rose Garden, Feb. 20, 1985 in Washington. (AP Photo/Barry Thumma, File)
The Rose Garden was created during Democrat John F. Kennedy’s administration. Presidents have used the space for everything from big announcements to Thanksgiving turkey pardon ceremonies.
It’s Trump’s second makeover of the garden just outside the Oval Office. In 2020, first lady Melania Trump announced an update that included a limestone walking path bordering the central lawn. It also improved drainage and added accessibility for people with disabilities.
This is a photo gallery curated by Associated Press photo editors.
Construction work continues in the Rose Garden before President Donald Trump departs the White House, Thursday, July 24, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
The White House Rose Garden is seen under construction, Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Construction work continues in the Rose Garden before President Donald Trump departs the White House, Thursday, July 24, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Barack Obama, right, and Vice President Joe Biden, left, have a beer with Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., second from left, and Cambridge, Mass., police Sgt. James Crowley in the Rose Garden of The White House in Washington, July 30, 2009. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
President Clinton, flanked by National Turkey Federation (NTF) Chairman Frank Gessell, left, and NTF Secretary Treasurer Jerry Jerome, watch a 45-pound turkey in the Rose Garden of the White House, Nov. 24, 1998 where the president, in a pre-Thanksgiving tradition, pardoned the bird. (AP Photo/Doug Mills, File)
View of flowers in the Rose Garden of the White House, June 12, 1996, with the Oval Office in the background. (AP Photo/Ruth Fremson, File)
President George Bush makes a statement about the transition of the administration of President-elect Barack Obama, Nov. 5, 2008, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
President Ronald Reagan delivers the commencement speech to the John A. Holmes High School senior class from Edenton, N.C., May 13, 1986 in Washington in the Rose Garden of the White House. (AP Photo/Scott Stewart, File)
President George H. W. Bush holds an outdoor news conference in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, April 11, 1992. (AP Photo/Doug Mills, File)