https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/politics/a65124864/white-house-rose-garden-paved-photos/
The White House Officially Paves Over the Rose Garden
In his second term in office, President Donald Trump has made changes to the White House—including the historic Rose Garden.
Work began on the Rose Garden in early June, and this week, pictures show that the garden's lawn has been removed and crews have begun paving it over.
Chip Somodevilla//Getty Images
Worker paving the Rose Garden’s lawn area on June 18, 2025.
“It's going to be beautiful,” Trump said in February. “It’s going to look, I think it’s actually going to look better. But some people would like to leave it. But the problem is you can’t. We had the press here yesterday. Do you see the women there? They’re going crazy. The grass was wet. Their heels are going right through the grass, like four inches deep.”
The work is reportedly set to be completed by August. “This restoration to the Rose Garden preserves the beauty of the space and builds on the work done in 2020,” an anonymous official told People, “with a focus on enhancing practical use and guest experience for those attending special events.”
Bettmann//Getty Images
The first spring in the Rose Garden after Jackie Kennedy and Bunny Mellon’s renovation.
The modern design of the Rose Garden was established decades ago, during the Kennedy administration. At the time, First Lady Jackie Kennedy worked with her friend, decorator Bunny Mellon, and landscape architect Perry Wheeler to redesign the garden.
“The President had noted that the White House had no garden equal in quality or attractiveness to the gardens that he had seen and in which he had been entertained in Europe. There he had recognized the importance of gardens surrounding an official residence and their appeal to the sensibilities of all people,” Mellon would later say. “He wanted to start, in the greatest haste, to remake the area near his office at the west end of the White House, known as the Rose Garden, into an area both useful and attractive.”