AP PHOTOS: A look back at the White House Rose Garden as Trump's paved makeover nears completion

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s paved makeover of the White House’s Rose Garden appears to be nearly finished.

The garden’s previously grassy lawn was fully covered by pavement as construction crews put the final touches on Trump’s project Friday. The last rows of pavers were put in place as workers taped off their edges.

It’s part of Trump’s bigger plan to add his own flourishes to the Executive Mansion and its grounds. His updates have already added flagpoles to the North and South Lawns, and he wants to build a new ballroom on the grounds.

The Republican president said in March he'd pave over the Rose Garden because the grass is always wet and is an inconvenience for women in high heels. The project was expected to be finished in August.

The Rose Garden was created during Democrat John F. Kennedy's administration. Presidents have used the space for everything from big announcements to Thanksgiving turkey pardon ceremonies.

It’s Trump’s second makeover of the garden just outside the Oval Office. In 2020, first lady Melania Trump announced an update that included a limestone walking path bordering the central lawn. It also improved drainage and added accessibility for people with disabilities.

This is a photo gallery curated by Associated Press photo editors.

FILE - President Ronald Reagan is pulled along by his pet dog Lucky, while he and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher take a stroll in the White House Rose Garden, Feb. 20, 1985 in Washington. (AP Photo/Barry Thumma, File)

FILE - President George H. W. Bush holds an outdoor news conference in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, April 11, 1992. (AP Photo/Doug Mills, File)

FILE - President Ronald Reagan delivers the commencement speech to the John A. Holmes High School senior class from Edenton, N.C., May 13, 1986 in Washington in the Rose Garden of the White House. (AP Photo/Scott Stewart, File)

FILE - President George Bush makes a statement about the transition of the administration of President-elect Barack Obama, Nov. 5, 2008, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

FILE - View of flowers in the Rose Garden of the White House, June 12, 1996, with the Oval Office in the background. (AP Photo/Ruth Fremson, File)

FILE - President Clinton, flanked by National Turkey Federation (NTF) Chairman Frank Gessell, left, and NTF Secretary Treasurer Jerry Jerome, watch a 45-pound turkey in the Rose Garden of the White House, Nov. 24, 1998 where the president, in a pre-Thanksgiving tradition, pardoned the bird. (AP Photo/Doug Mills, File)

FILE - President Barack Obama, right, and Vice President Joe Biden, left, have a beer with Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., second from left, and Cambridge, Mass., police Sgt. James Crowley in the Rose Garden of The White House in Washington, July 30, 2009. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

FILE - President John Kennedy walks toward the microphones on the White House portico outside his office on July 13, 1961 in Washington to address a group of 1,827 teenagers from 51 countries, exchange students who have been in the United States the past year. The students jammed the Rose Garden. Some were pushed to the ground in a surge to get closer to the President. (AP Photo/JR, File)

Construction work continues in the Rose Garden before President Donald Trump departs the White House, Thursday, July 24, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Construction work continues in the Rose Garden before President Donald Trump departs the White House, Thursday, July 24, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

The White House Rose Garden is seen under construction, Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Construction continues in the Rose Garden of the White House, Friday, July 25, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and state Attorney General Alan Wilson advanced to a runoff for the Republican nomination for South Carolina governor, while U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham won his own primary outright Tuesday in his pursuit of a fifth term in November.

President Donald Trump early on gave his endorsement of Graham, a political confidant and regular golfing partner of the president, despite their on-again, off-again relationship. Graham also had secured the support of some leading state Republicans, Sen. Tim Scott and Gov. Henry McMaster, to plow a path to another nomination.

Addressing Trump in his victory speech, Graham said "I’m going to help you change this world and change this country.” He has been outspoken in favor of military action against Iran.

However, Evette only secured a runoff berth in the governor's race a week after garnering Trump's endorsement. She will face Wilson in the June 23 primary. Others in the race included U.S. Reps. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman. Mace quickly threw her support to Wilson for the upcoming primary.

No Democrat has won a U.S. Senate seat in South Carolina in decades, and Republicans in recent history typically have taken statewide seats by double-digit margins.

When he last ran in 2020, Graham defeated his Democratic opponent by a 10 percentage point margin. This year, he'll face Charleston pediatrician Annie Andrews in November.

Competition among Republicans for Trump’s support seemed more intense than any other facet of the primary campaign.

Even before Evette received the president's endorsement, she frequently featured photos and videos of herself with Trump in campaign materials. She was backed by McMaster, the term-limited outgoing governor, a longstanding ally of Trump whose support telegraphed the president's own.

Mace also wanted Trump's support, and he endorsed her congressional reelection in 2024 even though she criticized his actions of Jan. 6, 2021, when his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol.

Norman, among the most conservative members of the House and a member of the Freedom Caucus, strongly supported Trump in the president’s first term. But in the 2024 campaign, Norman stumped for former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley instead of Trump.

Rom Reddy, a coastal businessman who has eschewed campaign donations and self-funded his effort, had touted his lack of political experience as an asset, drawing comparisons between Trump and himself.

South Carolina’s other top contest Tuesday saw Graham clinching the Republican nomination without need of a runoff.

Although their relationship has undulated through the years, Graham has remained close with Trump, who fulfilled the senator's longstanding wish for direct confrontation between Washington and Tehran. Graham cheered Trump’s decision to strike nuclear sites last year and recently said he often speaks to the president about the ongoing conflict.

Among Graham's primary foes was Greenville businessman Mark Lynch, who said Graham wasn't conservative enough to represent the state. Calling himself an “America First” candidate, Lynch campaigned as a Trump supporter. However, the president has called him a “lunatic” and a “disaster for the Republican Party."

Democrats haven’t won the governor’s office or a Senate seat in South Carolina for decades.

Andrews, the Charleston pediatrician, ran unsuccessfully against Mace in 2022. Now running for Senate against Graham, she's challenged what she’s characterized as Graham’s waffling positions over the course of his political career.

She is among the Democrats hoping to capitalize on dissatisfaction with Trump this year.

In the governor's race, state Rep. Jermaine Johnson won the Democratic nomination in the South Carolina governor’s race.

Johnson has represented a district in the Columbia area for three terms. Seen as a rising star in the state party, Johnson was tapped to give this year’s Democratic response to McMaster’s state of the state address. McMaster has been in office since Nikki Haley left her term early to join the first Trump administration.

Democrats have not won a general election for governor in South Carolina since 1998, and Republicans have controlled all statewide-elected offices in the state for more than a decade.

This story has been corrected to show Jermaine Johnson won the Democratic nomination outright for South Carolina governor and is not entering a runoff.

Collins reported from Columbia, South Carolina.

Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP

Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham speaks after winning the Republican primary on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham speaks after winning the Republican primary on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette speaks during the final rally of her GOP primary campaign for governor on Monday, June 8, 2026, in Greer, S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)

FILE - U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., takes questions from reporters following a South Carolina gubernatorial GOP candidate debate on April 1, in Newberry, S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard, File)

FILE - Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, R-S.C., takes questions from reporters after receiving the endorsement of Gov. Henry McMaster, R-S.C., in the 2026 GOP gubernatorial primary, Feb. 12, 2026, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard, File)

FILE - Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks with supporters after filing his reelection paperwork, March 16, 2026, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard, File)