Free Republic

Matthew Taylor, a conceptual artist and political strategist, made influential ads and documentaries produced by Steve Bannon. Now he’s assisting the White House.Matthew Taylor officially holds one role in the Trump administration as a senior adviser at the National Endowment for the Humanities, but he has quietly become a key player behind many of the president’s bold initiatives to transform Washington and its cultural legacy.This year, Mr. Trump appointed Mr. Taylor to the Commission of Fine Arts, a federal agency that reviews government construction in Washington, to rubber-stamp approvals for projects such as the White House ballroom and the world’s...

A remarkable two-month sprint higher for the major U.S. stock-market indexes encountered its first major hiccup on Friday, as the Nasdaq Composite plummeted more than 1,121 points — its biggest one-day point drop on record, according to Dow Jones Market Data. That translated to a 4.2% decline for the Nasdaq, the biggest in percentage-point terms since April 10, 2025, data showed. A 2.6% drop for the S&P 500 on Friday was its worst since Oct. 10.

Call it the Arc de Trump. President Trump posted an architect’s rendering of a huge triumphal arch to mark the nation’s 250th birthday – and his biggest change yet to the capital’s skyline. The stone arch would be constructed just across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial — soaring above that memorial’s 99-foot height — and add a major new element to DC’s public architecture. The online sketch depicts a massive monument that bears a strong resemblance to the Washington Square Park arch in Manhattan and the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. The stone monument features carved wreaths, two...