Jonathan Edwards

Excited to announce I'm the new arts and government reporter at @washingtonpost covering the Smithsonian, Kennedy Center, Library of Congress, etc — and how the Trump administration is reshaping those institutions to rewrite the American story. Tips welcome: Signal jle.11

Scoop: Inside look at unusual government contracting maneuvers re: the Triumphal Arch to "align with the Administration’s timeline" as Trump tries to leave his physical mark on the nation's capital. From @Blaskey_S and @jocwapo washingtonpost.com/investigations…

Historic preservationists sued to stop Trump's White House ballroom. A judge ordered it halted. But the administration appealed, and the first parts are now rising aboveground amid a legal battle and congressional fight over who pays. w @ddiamond washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/…

@DanRosZiff @Reuters @TheJusticeDept @AGoudsward @janawinter Reuters is lucky. We miss you over here 🥲

Some news: Today is my first day at @Reuters, where I'll be covering @TheJusticeDept. Thrilled to join the stellar tandem of @AGoudsward and @janawinter reporting on all things DOJ and FBI. Reach out with tips on Signal at danrz.16 or email dan.rosenzweig-ziff@thomsonreuters.com

Interesting behind-the-scenes reporting that reveals the president's investment: A division president from Clark Construction, one of the largest construction firms in the region, now works most days out of a trailer on the White House grounds as a high-stakes site manager. Some evenings the president calls him into the Oval Office to go over details for more than an hour at a time, he recounted to an associate. Out of hundreds of lawsuits and appeals involving the administration, the challenge to the ballroom is the only one where the president has personally dictated multiple legal filings. Spending time on the ballroom is how Trump likes to unwind at the end of a long workday, a person familiar with the conversations said. “His version of a bourbon is construction,” the person said.

President Trump's unceasing drive for his White House ballroom, a legally embattled project that polls show is broadly unpopular. w @Cat_Zakrzewski and @iarnsdorf washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/…

Sen. Grassley's office: $1 billion in taxpayer money won't be used for ballroom construction White House: Yes, it will be w @ddiamond and @rbeggin

The White House says that if Senate approves the GOP's planned $1 billion in funding for security upgrades, it should end legal fight over Trump's ballroom. Spox: “Congress has rightly recognized the need for these funds." w @jonathanreports @rbeggin washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/…

Trump insists the White House needs his ballroom, especially after Saturday’s incident. His GOP allies have introduced legislation to authorize it. But the public continues to reject the ballroom by a 2:1 margin. Fresh polling via @sfcpoll:

New development overnight in the legal fight over the White House ballroom project as the Trump administration continues to use the shooting at the White House correspondents’ dinner to try to overcome opposition. From @ddiamond x.com/ddiamond/statu…

I am filing the “Build the Ballroom Act” to create explicit statutory authority for a White House Ballroom. While the lawsuits attempting to stop this privately-funded gift to the country are nonsense, last night makes it clear that we need it — and we need it now. I look forward to Democrats repudiating their violent rhetoric against President Trump by cosponsoring and supporting this bill. Mr. President, build away.

After a gunman charged toward the president at the White House correspondents' dinner, Trump and conservative allies said it proved the need for his $400 million White House ballroom. But it's not clear the dinner would even be held there. washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/…

RIP to a great editor and boss who gave so much to the Washington Post and to all of us. washingtonpost.com/obituaries/202…

Here's a GoFundMe for the family of longtime Washington Post editor @DanEggenDC, who died this week. gofundme.com/f/support-for-…

Six months ago, Trump destroyed the East Wing — a @washingtonpost scoop. His admin raised at least $300M from donors it won't fully name, bypassed Congress and fought to hide fundraising contract. What @ddiamond and I found — and what we still don't know open.substack.com/pub/byjonathan…

SCOOP: Trump's secret contract for White House ballroom fundraising shielded donors and excluded the White House from conflict-of-interest safeguards. It took a lawsuit from @Public_Citizen and a judge's order to make it public. w @ddiamond washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/…

News on the White House ballroom court case from my reporting partner @ddiamond

A federal panel packed with Trump allies has approved the White House ballroom. Normally, it's the final procedural hurdle before construction — but a federal judge halted the project two days ago. Trump is appealing. Much more with @jonathanreports washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/…

Planning commission APPROVES President Trump's White House ballroom project washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/…

@emilymbadger @ddiamond Thank you Emily, much appreciated. Allow me to return the favor re: this excellent story, which in no way made me jealous nytimes.com/interactive/20…

Great @jonathanreports @ddiamond story here ahead of the meeting about how the White House got NCPC to water down a description of its own authority over the project: washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/…

The National Capital Planning Commission is scheduled to vote today to approve the president's ballroom. As of March, this is where the project stood. By this afternoon, it will jump to the "final" step. (NCPC is no longer showing this tracker on their website tho.)