JOHN YANG: In his second term, President# Trump is putting his mark on the White House,## making changes to the building# and its grounds.
Just this week,## he unveiled the Presidential Walk of Fame# along the West Wing colonnade.
It features## portraits of each of the previous# commanders in chief, except for one.
In place of President Biden’s portrait is a# photo of an auto pen signing his name.
Elsewhere,## work has begun on a grand ballroom, and even# the iconic Rose Garden has gotten a new look.## Ali Rogan is back with that story.
DONALD TRUMP, U.S.
President: I am## officially declaring a national emergency.
ALI ROGIN (voice-over): It’s hosted addresses# to the nation in uncertain times, bill signings.
BILL CLINTON, Former U.S.
President: Family and# medical leave is a matter of pure common sense.
ALI ROGIN (voice-over): Weddings.
And# this month, another history making moment.
DONALD TRUMP: This is the Rose Garden.
We never# touched a rose.
The roses are in full bloom.
ALI ROGIN (voice-over): A garden of roses# by the same name and smelling just as sweet,## but with many changes.
There’s new patio# furniture and umbrellas with bright yellow## accents resembling President Trump’s# club in Florida, Mar-a-Lago.
There’s a## newly laid slab of concrete.
And for the# people’s house, some members only flare.
DONALD TRUMP: You know, you’re the first ones on# this great place.
We call it the Rose Garden Club,## and it’s a club for senators, for Congress# people, and for people in Washington.
ALI ROGIN (voice-over): The President said the# changes would make space more accessible and## easier to navigate.
Mr.
Trump announced the# new Rose Garden Club during a dinner of about## 100 people, a mostly partisan crowd made up of# Republican lawmakers and top White House staffers.
But after the unveiling, public opinion was# divided, some headlines calling it tacky,## focusing on the stark paving job,# some historians take a longer view.
STEWART MCLAURIN, White House Historical# Association: The White House history is## living history, and certainly so much of# American history takes place.. be told through the prism of White House# history.
But it evolves and it changes.
ALI ROGIN: Stewart McLaurin is the president# of the White House Historical Association,## a non-profit organization founded to help# preserve the Executive Mansion and its contents,## as well as educate the public about its history.
STEWART MCLAURIN: We forget that this is# a house to the president and his family.## It’s an office to the president and his staff.# It’s a ceremonial stage upon which welcome our## most important visitors from around the world.# It’s also a museum that about 500,000 people## a year have the privilege of going through.# Imagine all of that happening in your home.
ALI ROGIN: In fact, once upon a time,# the Rose Garden was just a garden,## growing produce for the White House kitchen and# acting as a pasture for dairy cows and sheep.
MAN: Mr.
Kennedy taking the oath# administered by the chief Justice.
ALI ROGIN: It wasn’t until 1961,# when the Kennedy family moved in## and took on the task of restoring# and modernizing the White House,## that the garden took on a more official role.# President Kennedy envisioned the space as an## extension of the White House, one where he# could address a crowd or entertain guests.
But those changes also came with# their share of public commentary.
STEWART MCLAURIN: President Kennedy# was concerned that there would be## press criticism or this money is being# spent.
What will people think?
And there## were articles in the newspaper about what# is Mrs.
Kennedy doing to the White House.## There were concerns raised when she did her# Rose Garden renovation in the 1960s as well.
ALI ROGIN (voice-over): That renovation ended# abruptly with Kennedy’s assassination in 1963,## but subsequent presidents and# first ladies took up the mantle.
STEWART MCLAURIN: There have been presidents# since John and Abigail Adams that have lived## in this house.
They’ve been of all# political persuasions, conservative,## liberal, Republican, Democrat.
And yet the# house has emerged and sustained to be the## great house of the American presidency.
And it# will continue to be that for generations to come.
ALI ROGIN (voice-over): Their# surroundings may change,## but the White House roses bear witness to# it all.
For PBS News Weekend..
