As revealed in a letter made public this week, multiple whistleblowers accused President Donald Trump of ignoring federal contracting laws regarding his several beautification projects in Washington, D.C., and claimed to know why the president was so "rushed" to see the projects completed.
Trump has spent much of his second term focused on his D.C. beautification projects, perhaps chief among them being the renovations to the Kennedy Center, which included emblazoning his name on the building – a move since undone by a judge's order.
According to multiple whistleblowers who reportedly contacted Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), however, there was a very specific reason for why Trump expedited the Kennedy Center renovations: to ensure renovations were complete in time for him to receive the FIFA World Peace Prize.
“[Kennedy] Center management worked in unusually close consultation with the White House to rush a series of renovations to meet deadlines tied to the President’s desire to host events at the Center in December 2025, including the ceremony at which President Trump received the so-called ‘FIFA World Peace Prize,’” reads a joint letter penned by Whitehouse.
“In the process, longstanding federal contracting controls were set aside, no-bid contracts were awarded, and superficial cosmetic work was performed that staff warned would have to be redone.”
Trump’s “rush,” as Whitehouse called it, to see his beautification projects to completion went beyond the Kennedy Center, the whistleblowers claimed.
“Contractor’s cosmetic revamp of the Center’s Reflecting Pool is already rusting and peeling,” the letter reads.
“In order to hit President Trump’s December 2025 deadline, [the contractor] only conducted a cosmetic sanding and repainting of the Center’s East Plaza Reflecting Pool, which the disclosure indicates may need to be fully rebuilt. The Center’s Reflecting Pool is now unevenly painted and rusting, indicating that old paint was never properly stripped before it was resurfaced.”