(Matt Lamb, Headline USA) President Donald Trump wants to make federal buildings beautiful again.
Amidst a flurry of executive orders on DEI, gender, and energy, Trump also signed an executive order Monday requiring new federal buildings to be “beautiful.”
“Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture” required the General Services Administration to create a “policy that Federal public buildings should be visually identifiable as civic buildings and respect regional, traditional, and classical architectural heritage.”
The policy aimed to “uplift and beautify public spaces and ennoble the United States and our system of self-government.”
It is similar to a 2020 executive order Trump signed in his first term under the same name. That directive criticized “modernist” and “unappealing” designs. President Joe Biden repealed that directive, however.
Conservatives praised the newest executive order in statements on X.
Thanks to President Trump Americans can once again be proud and inspired by our federal buildings. https://t.co/lJqlS2KlJG
— Senator Bill Hagerty (@SenatorHagerty) January 21, 2025
“Thanks to President Trump Americans can once again be proud and inspired by our federal buildings,” Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-TN, wrote.
“Great to have this back. Thank you,” Rep. Chip Roy, R-TX, wrote on X.
“The purpose of brutalism is to intimidate the public about government power through massively ugly buildings,” Steve Milloy suggested in a post on X.
President Trump signs an Executive order to stop "brutalism" in federal architecture (think the FBI building and many other federal buildings). The purpose of brutalism is to intimidate the public about government power through massively ugly buildings.https://t.co/3Mzm4nnHIm pic.twitter.com/ZRl97UjqFX
— Steve Milloy (@JunkScience) January 21, 2025
President Trump also signed executive orders cracking down on government censorship, promoting energy independence, and recognizing that sex is immutable.
He signed a total of 41 executive orders yesterday and more are expected in the coming days.
The ugly nature of many federal buildings has been acknowledged by media outlets across the political spectrum, including Buzzfeed, the Washington Post, and Reason.
The National Building Museum in D.C. is even hosting an exhibit through mid-February called “Capital Brutalism,” exploring ugly buildings.
