Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) on Monday took aim at President Donald Trump, calling him “the real scofflaw vandal in Washington D.C.” during an appearance on MSNBC’s “All In.” The Maryland Democrat argued that Trump’s approach to federal property flouts the Constitution and threatens the balance of power.
Raskin warned that if Trump can “take a bulldozer to the East Wing of the White House,” future presidents could do the same to the West Wing or even “burn the whole thing down.” Such actions, he said, are not legally permissible. “That is not the law,” Raskin said. “The law is, under our Constitution, that Congress controls all federal property.”
A “Fundamental Fallacy”
The congressman described Trump’s view of presidential authority over federal land and buildings as a “fundamental fallacy” of his second administration. Raskin accused Trump of acting as if he controls all federal property, citing examples such as converting a park into a PGA golf course “for his friends,” reshaping the Reflecting Pool into a “strait of warm ooze” with an algae farm, and “desecrating” federal buildings like the Kennedy Center, where Trump “just scrawled his name.”
“He is the real scofflaw vandal in Washington, D.C. with his graffiti, by the way,” Raskin added.
Congressional Oversight
Raskin stressed that all such changes require congressional approval. “All of this stuff needs to be vetted through Congress,” he said, noting that while Trump is “obsessed with all of these architectural changes and renovations,” he must “follow the rule of law” if he wants to pursue those projects.
The remarks come amid ongoing friction between the Trump administration and Democratic lawmakers over the president’s use of federal properties and executive authority. Raskin’s comments echo broader concerns among Democrats that Trump is overstepping his constitutional bounds in managing the nation’s capital’s landmarks.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2026/08/17/raskin-trump-is-the-real-scofflaw-vandal-in-washington-d-c/