Step one: issue an executive order prohibiting any new federal architecture other than (neo-) Classical. Step two, inevitably: build the Trump Monument on the National Mall.
But advocates for traditional architecture should think carefully before supporting a government position on design, says Goldberger. While it might suit their interests in the short term for the White House to declare classical design as the national style, classicism could also come to be seen as a mere manifestation of Trumpism, a symbol akin to the border wall or family detention centers. “In the long term, to be associated with all the extreme right-wing positions of the current administration will not do the movement of contemporary classicism any good,” Goldberger says.