President Donald Trump, without prior congressional approval, has demolished the East Wing of the White House to construct a multimillion-dollar ballroom, remade the Rose Garden (twice), constructed an ultimate fighting cage, installed a Presidential Walk of Fame mocking his Democratic predecessors, changed the walkway to granite, refurbished the Oval Office with gold decorations, renovated the Lincoln bathroom, and now is constructing a helipad on the White House South Lawn.

The president has often boasted that his renovations will cost the taxpayers nothing — while their true cost, such as the security enhancements of his ballroom project, will reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars, and possibly $1 billion.

His latest project, the “unannounced” helipad, is being funded in part by a $5 million donation from top defense contractor Lockheed Martin, according to a report by The Washington Post. It is “intended to resolve a years-long problem with the new Marine One helicopters: They run the risk of scorching the White House’s grass.”

The total cost of the project was not disclosed, nor was the construction before it began.

“Construction crews worked into the night Monday on the White House’s South Lawn, with the project blocked off by a large fence,” the Post reported. “The helipad will be located near the South Portico, the traditional landing site for Marine One, the call sign for whichever helicopter is transporting the president, the people said.”

Retired Marine Corps Colonel Ray L’Heureux “said it appears the installation of the White House helipad was determined to be operationally necessary.”

“The new [Marine One] program is a costly one and not using the capability is bad optics all around for many reasons,” he added.

He hopes that altering the aesthetics of the White House grounds can be mitigated by painting the helipad green.

The Daily Beast reported that Trump was “secretly breaking ground on the latest desecration at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.”

Trump’s many construction and renovation projects have drawn a loud, unrelenting backlash.

“Conservationists, lawmakers, government watchdogs, transparency advocates, and much of the public at large have balked as he charges ahead with building a glitzy new ballroom at the site where the building’s historic East Wing once stood,” The Daily Beast added.

Image via Reuters 

Questions — and rumors — are swirling after U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas made an unannounced visit to Capitol Hill, where at least one intrepid reporter was quick to notice and ask questions.

MS NOW’s Mychael Schnell caught up with the justice but did not get many answers.

When asked who he was meeting with, Justice Thomas first responded, “What did you say?”

Asked two more times, he replied, “Oh, nobody.”

“You weren’t meeting with the Speaker?” Schnell pressed.

“Oh, God, no,” Thomas declared.

“So what are you doing up here?” Schnell then asked.

“Oh, just walking,” Thomas said.

“No meetings in particular?” Schnell continued.

Thomas appeared to respond, “I’m not gonna tell you about it,” but his words were unclear as he chuckled.

Schnell also asked Justice Thomas if he would give her a “sneak peek” of some of the final decisions being handed down on Tuesday.

“Nope,” he replied.

He would not answer a series of additional questions, largely aimed at determining the purpose of his visit.

“You have good questions,” was all Thomas would say.

“Any comment at all?” Schnell finally asked.

“No, no, no, sir,” Thomas offered.

Politico’s Meredith Lee Hill reported that Thomas “did not meet with House GOP leadership,” and Republicans “believe he was here for the House physician office, per sources.”

Online commenters offered their own thoughts.

“Yeah, this does not pass the smell test. The Supreme Court should state for what reasons Justice Thomas was at the Capitol,” wrote Carlos David Gamez, a disability advocate.

“This is alarming. Why would a Supreme Court justice randomly show up at the Capitol? There is clearly a reason, and the American people deserve to know,” wrote political commentator Vince Wilson.

Others suggested the jurist, who just turned 78 last week and has sat on the nation’s highest court since 1991, is retiring.

The court on Monday handed President Donald Trump three devastating blows, including two opinions that went against the administration’s positions, as well as refusing to review lower-court rulings that require Trump to pay journalist E. Jean Carroll $5 million.

NEW: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas just walked through the House side of the Capitol.

He didn’t say why he was here. But told me he was meeting with “nobody.”

I said tomorrow will be a big day at the court. “I guess so,” he responded.

Would he give a sneak peak of… pic.twitter.com/BjtAiffDJe

— Mychael Schnell (@mychaelschnell) June 29, 2026

Image via Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

The U.S. Supreme Court has “declared war” on American democracy, on “modern society,” and on “everything it takes to function in the 21st century,” warns Nobel laureate Paul Krugman, after the court expanded presidential powers once again. Six of the court’s members, presumably the conservative wing, “are fundamentally hostile to democracy, fundamentally hostile to the modern world and determined to put the catastrophically bad leader that we currently have sitting in the White House in charge of everything, which is a nightmare scenario on every level.”

Krugman scorches the court for ruling that presidents can fire, without cause, the heads of independent federal agencies (except the Federal Reserve). In doing so, the court overturned a 91-year-old precedent.

He explains that in a modern society, “the agencies that operate the U.S. government and basically run our society are supposed to be professional. They’re supposed to be following their legal mandate. They’re not supposed to be personal tools of a dictator in the White House.”

Krugman says that the court has now given “essentially dictatorial powers to the occupant of the White House,” while also making it extremely difficult for the economy and for society to function.

He explains that in today’s complicated world, ground rules are necessary. Offering the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example, Krugman says that producers need to know that their products will be approved based on merit, and not on “spurious grounds.”

“And what would cause those decisions to happen?” he asks. “Well, how about the fact that some businesses are better at the business of bribing the president and his family than others. And if you think that this is outlandish — you know, a few years ago you might have said this was outlandish, things like that wouldn’t really happen — well, as we speak, these things are happening all the time.”

Ultimately, Krugman says, America cannot continue on this path — and he calls for some form of restructuring or constraining of the Supreme Court.

“This is a clear argument that says we have to one way or another disempower the Supreme Court. I don’t know enough to tell you what is the best route to do that but court packing or something else is going to have to happen.”

Professor of law Barb McQuade, commenting on the court’s opinion, wrote, “Today’s decision in Slaughter will destroy the independence of the Merit Systems Protection Board, which will have a cascading effect on all federal employees, who have been free from political interference for 150 years. The spoils system is back, baby!”

Image via Shutterstock