President Donald Trump appears to be unhappy with the J. Edgar Hoover building in Washington, D.C., home to the FBI's headquarters, which he reportedly called "brutalist architecture," Axios reported Sunday.
"Even the building is terrible," Trump said, according to an Axios source. "It's one of the brutalist-type buildings, you know, brutalist architecture. Honestly, I think it's one of the ugliest buildings in the city."
Trump is reportedly opposed to moving the FBI out of Washington, D.C., but said it needed a "total revamp."
"This is prime real estate, right on Pennsylvania Avenue," he said, according to another source. "This is a great address. They need to stay there. But it needs a total revamp."
The second source also said Trump had told his chief of staff John Kelly that he wanted to personally oversee details of a renovation of the building, including the cost per square foot, the materials used and the renovation specs.
An unnamed senior White House official confirmed to Axios that the president was interested in a renovation of the FBI building.
"POTUS has interest in the issue and has met with FBI officials, but more importantly the GSA [General Services Administration] team. GSA has concerns that the building can't be rehabilitated, particularly given the security requirements and has relayed that to him," the White House official said.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders also said Trump was interested in the project, stating, "POTUS is always interested in building because he knows it better than anyone and has been very successful in it. He's found GSA to be on it, 'very impressive' and 'knowledgeable' are the phrases he has used."
To date, the FBI hasn't submitted plans to Congress and there are no funds appropriated for the project. The senior White House official said the FBI would prefer to stay in Washington and is "working with GSA for optimum design for the Bureau's needs and at lowest budget, fastest timetable, etc."
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