Trump White House Starts Paving Rose Garden 5 Years After Melania’s Much-Debated Makeover

Construction crews have broken ground to kickstart President Donald Trump’s new renovation project of the White House Rose Garden. 

The changes include paving over parts of the historic lawn — an area redesigned by First Lady Melania Trump in 2020.

Photos from the site show workers digging up grass and shifting pieces of the limestone border Melania had installed during Trump’s first term.

According to Trump, the new concrete surface will make the garden more functional for events, especially for guests wearing heels who struggle with the soft ground.

“You know, we use [the Rose Garden] for press conferences, and it doesn’t work because the people fall,” Trump told Fox News in March.

"Women, with the high heels, it just didn’t work,” he added, saying the soft ground when it's wet is an issue for some.

The new construction is a “restoration,” a White House official told PEOPLE, as they insisted Trump and Melania "have deep respect for the history of the White House and for the Rose Garden."

"This restoration to the Rose Garden preserves the beauty of the space and builds on the work done in 2020, with a focus on enhancing practical use and guest experience for those attending special events,” the official said.

This isn't the first time the Rose Garden has been changed under a Trump administration.

In 2020, Melania led a redesign to restore the garden’s original 1962 look. That renovation removed several trees and added white rose bushes and limestone walkways.

The National Park Service is overseeing the new work, which is expected to finish by mid-August.

The project also includes the installation of new flagpoles on the North and South Lawns.

While the changes to the Rose Garden—an iconic background for presidential speeches—are practical, in Trump’s opinion, they have drawn criticism for paving over grassy areas.

Melania’s previous renovation also drew sharp criticism, with presidential historian Michael Beschloss describing it as an “evisceration” of the historic garden.

"Evisceration of White House Rose Garden was completed a year ago this month, and here was the grim result—decades of American history made to disappear," Beschloss said in 2021.

But Melania’s office defended the renovation, firing back at Beschloss in an X post, according to PEOPLE.

"@BeschlossDC has proven his ignorance by showing a picture of the Rose Garden in its infancy. The Rose Garden is graced with a healthy & colorful blossoming of roses," they said at the time.

"His misleading information is dishonorable & he should never be trusted as a professional historian."

So far, Beschloss has not shared his opinion on how the new renovation is looking.