In the lead-up to America’s 250th anniversary, President Trump is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a major renovation of the nation’s capitol. David A. Fahrenthold, who has been investigating how the projects have come together, takes listeners on a walking tour of the sites being remade. Guest: David A. Fahrenthold (https://www.nytimes.com/by/david-a-fahrenthold) , an investigative reporter for The New York Times, writing primarily about nonprofit organizations. Background reading:  • See what’s wrong (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/05/31/us/trump-reflecting-pool-problems.html) with the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. • A no-bid contract is turning the pool blue (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/08/us/politics/reflecting-pool-trump-contract.html) . • The firm building Mr. Trump’s ballroom got a secret no-bid contract for a nearby job (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/25/us/politics/lafayette-park-fountains-trump-contract.html) . Photo: Allison Robbert for The New York Times For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily (http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily) . Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.  Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts (http://nytimes.com/podcasts) or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.