Trump, 79, Can’t Stop Talking About His Vanity Projects

Donald Trump wants to crush The Swamp. The leaks, the sneaks, and the secrets are all there. Our writers, David Gardner, Farrah Tomazin, Sarah Ewall-Wice, and Laura Esposito, are sifting through the ooze so you don’t have to. Don’t miss out.

In this week’s news from the ooze: Hung Cao, Joe Biden, Pete Hegseth, Michael Whatley, Dr. John Gartner, Caryn Zucker, Dana White, John Roberts, Susan Collins, Donald Trump, Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt, Tony Buzbee, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Alex Meyer, Alex Bores, James Blair, and Erika and Charlie Kirk.

Trump’s Obsession With Monuments to Himself

Donald Trump’s rabid obsession with his vanity projects has taken precedence over the biggest concerns of the American public.

His public meanderings and Truth Social posts offer a disturbing insight into the president’s priorities, according to analysis by The Swamp.

They have also led to growing concern over his mental health.

While Americans worry about the war with Iran, gas prices, and the cost of living, the president has spent hours rambling about his construction work as he attempts to remake Washington in his own image.

Trump spent at least 133 minutes talking about his vanity projects over the past month, veering into rants in the Oval Office, at roundtables and Cabinet meetings, and even during Mothers’ Day luncheons.

In June alone, Trump has already posted or reposted about his Washington vanity projects 30 times. By comparison, he has posted seven times about Iran this month.

The undisputed champion ramble was Trump’s 44-minute ballroom construction-site walkthrough on May 19, during which he let it slip that he was quietly building a military fort beneath the structure.

The strangest moment arrived during an Oval Office event last week when Trump held up photographs comparing the length of the Reflecting Pool to famous skyscrapers around the world, as if unveiling a middle-school science project. He also staged a high-profile drive across the Lincoln Memorial grounds, presumably in a bid to distract from his escalating conflict with Iran.

And the most awkward performance came last Friday, when he traveled to Wisconsin to talk to struggling farmers only to veer off into a long-winded diatribe about cleaning up Washington. He even brought “before and after” pictures. “Look at that!” he said as the polite farmers examined the images. “That’s our nation’s capital.”

Overall, Trump ranted about his projects on 17 occasions between May 1 and June 5. That figure includes his public events and press gaggles, and other appearances that ostensibly had nothing to do with construction. The tally, however, doesn’t include Trump’s lengthy Truth Social posts about his projects or one-on-one interviews. It also comes during a month when Trump spent significant time in China, meaning the total could have been even higher. Issues such as healthcare and affordability, meanwhile, barely got a look in.

Dr. John Gartner, a former professor at Johns Hopkins University, told The Swamp that Trump’s obsession with his vanity projects was directly linked to his cognitive decline. “Tangential speech (going off on tangents) is one of the diagnostic criteria for dementia, and we are seeing his decline right before our eyes,” he says.

Meanwhile, Washington now looks like one giant construction zone, much to the chagrin of tourists trying to get anywhere near the nation’s top sights. The White House South Lawn has been decimated to make way for his tacky new ballroom and this weekend’s UFC Fight Night event. UFC president Dana White and his fighters will also hold a press conference in front of the Lincoln Memorial on Friday. The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool itself is being filled with water after apparently being painted a shade of “American Flag Blue”—although as The Swamp observed last night, it barely looks different from the achromatic gray that preceded it. Trump is even replacing old grass across Washington, because, as the former real estate mogul recently explained, “like people, grass has a life too.” At this rate, our 47th president may be remembered less for lowering prices than improving drainage around DC.

Maybe the Republicans are running on pool cleaning for the midterms…

Bad Smell for Lawmakers Stocked With Gas

As gas prices climb and Americans brace for another hit at the pump, a handful of GOP Senate candidates appear to be enjoying a very different experience. Maine Sen. Susan Collins holds as much as $115,000 in natural gas stocks such as ConocoPhillips, which have surged during the conflict. North Carolina candidate Michael Whatley—a former big oil lobbyist — holds “up to a million plus dollars” in investments in Conoco as well as Chevron and Exxon Mobil. And New Hampshire candidate John Sununu has been defending Trump’s war while financial disclosures reveal his oil and gas portfolio has surged 24 percent. But the money trail doesn’t stop there. Oil companies, energy executives, and industry groups have poured more than $6.8 million into the Senate Leadership Fund this cycle – the top fundraising PAC for Senate Republicans. Chevron alone kicked in $2 million; while American Petroleum Institute dropped another $1 million. Perhaps it’s not surprising that Senate Republicans have repeatedly voted against efforts to rein in Trump’s military action or require congressional approval, helping keep the conflict—and the energy market turbulence—alive.

A Billionaire’s Wedding and 15-Minute Photo

When photographer Tony Powell got a call to snap a wedding with just 15 minutes’ notice it was an offer he could not refuse. The top secret nuptials were for David Rubenstein and Caryn Zucker in D.C. last Friday. Billionaire Rubenstein, 76, the philanthropist co-founder of the Carlyle Group and principal owner of the Baltimore Orioles, had been dating Zucker, 60, the ex-wife of former CNN boss Jeff, for four-and-a-half years. They were wed at the Supreme Court by Chief Justice John Roberts, followed by a religious service with Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt at the Sixth & I synagogue, and a family celebration in the rooftop restaurant at the Hay-Adams Hotel.

Bill Bored Troops Stuck Up in D.C.

Mysterious stickers have begun appearing around Washington carrying a pointed message for National Guard troops: “Are you starting to suspect you shouldn’t be patrolling happy hours and doggy daycares?” They even include a phone number for curious service members seeking answers, which The Swamp traced back to the Center on Conscience and War, which advocates for conscientious objectors. The guerrilla campaign comes at an awkward moment for the Trump administration, with a damning new study by the nonpartisan think tank the Niskansen Center revealing that Trump’s troop deployment has done little to reduce violent crime in the capital. Mind you, that hasn’t stopped the president pushing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to keep the bored-looking guards in the city—and even double their numbers over the summer. The mission is expanding, even if the evidence isn’t.

White House Exodus Continues

Alex Meyer is the latest White House official to make an exit to focus on the midterms. He served as a deputy assistant to the president and the White House director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. He’ll join James Blair, who is taking an absence from the Trump White House to head up Trump’s 2026 political efforts as Republicans fight to hold the House and Senate in an increasingly unfavorable political climate for a president who keeps going off message to whine about his D.C. decorating projects even while visiting the biggest battleground states.

AI Donors With a Swinging Pastime

As if it’s not hard enough taking on a Kennedy in his bid to become a New York congressman, it now seems Alex Bores has some donors to his campaign with a rather unusual hobby in their spare time. Five donors have maxed out with $7,000 payments to Bores’ primary and general election campaigns, with one stumping up $3,500 for the primary. The Swamp is told the donors were members of a “consensual non-consensual” private sex orgy group called “Red Means No.” They also have links to the AI policy space. But this might be a bit too real for the prospective NY rep.

MAGA French Family Vacation #2

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth faced criticism for bringing along his entire family to France to commemorate the anniversary of D-Day and turning the work trip into what looked like a family summer European getaway, but he’s not the only top Trump official to turn the visit to France into a family affair. Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao shared images of his family on his personal X account to mark D-Day, while his official account promoted his visit in his official capacity. The Swamp reached out to the Navy about who footed the bill for the full family visit, after other administration officials faced backlash for promoting their family adventures while in office.

SPOTTED: Former President Joe Biden made a surprise appearance at the Stonewall Awards celebration in Philadelphia over the weekend as part of Pride Month, where he declared there is nothing more American than fighting for equality.

Turning Point’s Wife Bootcamp Bombarded By Protesters

Surprise, surprise: Erika Kirk, certified girlboss of the far-right, kicked off Turning Point USA’s annual Women Leadership Summit on Friday by railing against modern feminism and career-focused women—once again failing to recognize the irony.

“Womanhood is viewed as a competing force against manhood, rather than something that is complementary,” said Kirk, the CEO of an organization that describes itself as “the largest, fastest-growing, and most-impactful conservative youth organization in America.”

In the face of tragedy, the 37-year-old widow stepped up to lead her late husband Charlie Kirk’s organization while raising two young children. But as is often the case in Donald Trump’s party, it’s do as I say, not as I do.

She went on to warn women at the San Antonio event—where tickets were priced between $50 and $300—against competing with men in the workplace, interrupted only when a heckler shouted, “Erika Kirk protects pedophiles.” Seems somebody’s been spending a little too much time watching Candace Owens conspiracy videos.

Outside the summit, roughly 50 protesters were posted throughout the weekend. But that didn’t stand in the way of a slate of mostly blonde keynote speakers including amateur swimmer Riley Gaines, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. The Swamp tried to score an invite, too, but alas: our application for press credentials was rejected. Maybe Erika has banned brunettes.

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