Why Trump is leaning into his role as ‘builder-in-chief’

You’d think that a self-described genius like Donald Trump would have more sense than to post an AI-generated image on social media declaring “Mission Accomplished” in Iran.

For one thing, the mission is not accomplished. Iran still has the capacity to build a nuclear bomb, and missiles are still flying over the Strait of Hormuz.

So how exactly is the mission accomplished?

And you’d think the president might have learned something from another president — George W. Bush, who stood in front of a giant “Mission Accomplished” banner aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln while the war in Iraq wasn’t even close to being over.

Mission accomplished became a symbol of failure — and ammunition for the war’s critics.

But there’s something else intriguing about all of this.

With no end in sight to the conflict with Iran, Donald Trump seems eager to change the subject. And what would he rather talk about if not missiles or nuclear enrichment or the Strait of Hormuz?

He’d rather talk about architecture than a war he calls “small potatoes.”

More specifically, he’d rather talk about how he’s changing the face of the White House — and a good part of Washington along with it.

He loves talking about his grand, gold-laced ballroom. Then there’s the magnificent 250-foot triumphal arch, sometimes called the Arch de Trump. And........

© The Hill