Design

No Wonder Donald Trump Didn’t Like Mount Vernon

Why did George Washington’s house leave the current president so unimpressed? Maybe because this practical-minded mansion was made to convey humility.
Power couples: Melania Trump, President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Brigitte Macron during their visit to Mount Vernon in April 2018.Susan Walsh/AP

Last April, when President Donald Trump cast his gaze around Mount Vernon during a state visit with French President Emmanuel Macron, he had one big question about the Virginia mansion of the founding father: Why didn’t George Washington didn’t name the place after himself?

“You’ve got to put your name on stuff or no one remembers you,” Trump said, according to a story in Politico this week.