The President – through his Department of Interior – has made a concerted effort to revitalize much of Washington’s long neglected fountains, public parks, and other architectural displays.

Beyond just the ballroom and triumphal arch, these smaller renovation projects store dignity upon a city that has in recent decades been victimized by bureaucratic malaise and has thus fallen into disrepair.

One such example, newly reopened, is the Columbus fountain right outside Union Station.  Union Station of course serves as the gateway to America’s capital city.

Alas, for so many years, the first sight recent arrivals had of the imperial city was a crumbling fountain, often spray-painted with profanities, and doubling as a homeless shelter for drug addicted vagrants.

The stunning clash of the Beaux-Arts features of Union Station, one of Washington’s architectural marvels, with the dilapidated fountain just outside – and the grime it attracted – stood as a symbol of the city’s ruling class’s almost intentional disregard for the wellbeing of ordinary citizens.

Recent videos capture this sight’s restoration – as well as the awe experienced by giddy onlookers.

One such video that went viral on social media in recent days depicted an enthusiastic resident of Washington, DC expressing her sheer joy over the gleaming sight of the renovation – the late spring sun glistened off the white marble and illuminated the aquamarine water, a radiant display that could have been transported from Greece or Rome.

What is remarkably tragic about the whole thing is that this display, which is relatively cheap to upkeep (and only took a few short weeks to completely renovate), had been non-functional for not just a few months, or even years, but nearly two decades.

And it is not as though this was simply a side fountain in some forgotten corner of the city – this was the greeting fountain serving as the whole country’s first taste of their capitol.  Doubtless many a lawmaker passed by this fountain, in some cases multiple times a week, over multiple terms, and said and did nothing about it.

Why?  Not because they failed to notice it (that, they most certainly did), but because its decay – a stand-in for the nation – bought into the “managed decline philosophy” on which most of Washington, DC has governed for at least a generation – up until Donald Trump and the MAGA movement was thrust into power.

What is even more remarkable is that amid everything else going on, Donald Trump has enough time to tend to what other presidents might deem “small” or “trivial” matters.

The upkeep further speaks to one of the President’s most special talents: his attention to detail.  That attention drives his decisions on everything, from grand-scale domestic endeavors like constructing a ballroom to fortifying our elections, to the strategy that helps decide questions of war and peace.

Now, to the critic, this might appear like a vanity project – something that is consuming time and money that we do not have.  That is not so.

For reasons both practical and political, the renovation projects being done in Washington are essential features of the President’s larger program to make America great again.

Practically, these fountains are there – and thus, they will consume taxpayer dollars no matter what.  With the restorations, instead of spending money to disperse homeless encampments and drive away crime, that money is being put to a purpose that will serve the public – and create a safe and clean space for visitors to inhabit on the eve of the 250^th anniversary of American nationhood.

More importantly, however, are the political or symbolic reasons for doing this: a dilapidated capital is a bad look for any country.  In the modern world, optics matter.

But it is a terrible look for a country that is not only the richest empire in the history of mankind but is currently arguably at its peak in terms of wealth and power.

Thus, to be first greeted with a visual fitted for a third world country is not only an optical monstrosity, but is more damningly an indictment on and telltale that the country’s leadership is not serving the interests of its people.  This is especially so in the United States: a country with vast resources that should theoretically be able to implement a quick fix on any domestic problem, particularly one right in its own backyard.   In short, it is a visual reification of a country gone decadent.

More sinisterly, it is a manifestation of political power at its worst.  By design, these countries have been chosen to fall into disrepair because it degrades the visual constitution of the city at large.

Combined with the brutalist structures that hulk over the landscape like behemoths, degradation is tantamount to demoralization, and serves as a subtle psychological weapon against the inhabitants, who see no progress being made over years and years, and thus adopt a stance of learned helplessness with respect to government functions generally.

When President Trump’s administration came in and fixed it, not only did they leave a beautiful, working fountain behind, but they also made a statement that is sure to rankle the Washington establishment.

Namely, that what the establishment has long attempted to telegraph to the American people by not maintaining its public fountains and other displays – that it is impossible to get anything done with state power, so it’s not even worth the try – proved to be a complete and total myth.

It is the same thing as saying “decline is a choice” – Americans have long been psy-oped into believing debasement is a law of nature, rather than a concerted decision of free and autonomous decisionmakers.

Much like the open border and the lack of transparency in election systems, simply because things are this way does not mean they have to be this way.  For so long did Americans believe that to be true, because that was the only reality they ever knew.  Donald Trump is saying, loudly, “not so!”

The fountains, the ballrooms, the triumphal arch – these are living testimony to how government can serve the citizen in a way that exalts, rather than demoralizes, showcasing how institutions once properly ordered can be used to create order out of chaos, and civility from the cultural deconstruction that has long been the status quo during the Obama and Biden administrations.

In a word, President Trump’s efforts represent a vote of confidence in civilization, which is something that all Americans should be able to celebrate.

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