As US turns 250, Trump adds fuel to battles over monuments and memory

Disputes provoked by public monuments, flags and symbols are intensifying as the US’s 250th birthday approaches next month, and none are so contentious as those proposed by Donald Trump . Among the recent projects planned by the US president are a Garden of Heroes, a monumental “Freedom” arch, a massive ballroom and turning the reflecting pool at the Washington monument the color of a Bahamian luxury hotel pool. Trump’s proposals are contentious for themselves, but also for the lack of public consultation around them, says Paul Farber, director of Monuments Lab, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit that seeks to answer the question: which American stories ought to be memorialised in public? Trump has certainly gone full throttle to get his way in a manner that has boosted ongoing fears over his authoritarian behavior. Last week alone, Trump has said “Death and Destruction” will be rewarded on anyone who stalls construction of his ballroom and threatened to walk away from the Kennedy Center if his name is not added. “The relationship between our symbols and systems of democracy are entangled – and have been since the very beginning of the American experiment. Symbols and systems of power reflect on another,” Farber said. But its not just Trump involved in contentious public memorials. In New York, the mayor, Zohran Mamdani , wants former mayor, Ed Koch’s name, off the 59th St Bridge. …