WASHINGTON (AP) — Construction crews working on a new helipad at the White House have taken apart the massive granite seal that would serve as the new landing spot for Marine One, signaling potential delays in the project.
Photos captured by The Associated Press on Wednesday show construction workers using a jackhammer on the helipad, which no longer carries the dark gray trim of a presidential seal that was visible last week. It was unclear why the seal was being removed.
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Construction continues on a helipad on the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tierney L. Cross)
Construction continues on a helipad and the White House Ballroom on the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tierney L. Cross)
Construction continues on a helipad on the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tierney L. Cross)
Construction continues on a helipad on the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tierney L. Cross)
Workers use a jackhammer on the helipad on the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
The White House said it's continuing to make improvements as part of efforts to best match the needs of the building and its grounds. Trump has said the helipad is needed because new helicopters in the fleet used for Marine One are so powerful they rip out the South Lawn grass.
“For years, the White House has desperately needed a proper helipad on White House grounds that will allow the president to land safely and also protect the beautiful South Lawn grass from the fierce exhaust fumes of the incredible Marine One," White House spokesman Davis Ingle said on Wednesday. "Thanks to President Trump, the White House has never looked better, and it will only continue to get better under his leadership.”
The helipad is part of a long list of renovations that Trump has undertaken in his second term. His projects include a 90,000-square-foot (8,360-square-meter) ballroom; a Rose Garden paved over with stone; a new marbled interior in the Palm Room, a lobby-like room that leads out to the West Colonnade and Rose Garden; and an Oval Office that continues to add gilded decorations.
Trump described the helipad at length during an Oval Office appearance last month, saying it would be made of carved granite and calling it a “beautiful thing.” The president also said Sikorsky Aircraft, a subsidiary of defense contracting giant Lockheed Martin, would be paying for the project, which he estimated would cost up to $6 million. Lockheed referred comment on the helipad construction to the White House.
The new helicopters used for Marine One are manufactured by Sikorsky and made their debut under then-President Joe Biden in 2024. But their use has been limited because their exhaust vents aim heat downward, posing a risk to the South Lawn grass.
Trump has said that using granite rather than concrete for the helipad was his suggestion. He has also noted that the landing pad could be used for other White House events, such as press conferences.
The removal of the seal was first reported by The Washington Post.
Construction continues on a helipad on the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tierney L. Cross)
Construction continues on a helipad and the White House Ballroom on the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tierney L. Cross)
Construction continues on a helipad on the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tierney L. Cross)
Construction continues on a helipad on the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tierney L. Cross)
Workers use a jackhammer on the helipad on the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian attacks on Kyiv and its surrounding region killed 17 people and wounded dozens, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday, as Ukraine’s depleted air defenses failed to stop any of Moscow’s incoming missiles overnight.
The barrage, which lasted about two hours, was the latest in a series of large-scale Russian missile strikes that have become almost routine this summer. Moscow is exploiting Ukraine’s critical shortage of interceptors for the U.S.-made Patriot systems, the sole air defense weapon in its arsenal able to shoot down ballistic missiles.
Zelenskyy has pleaded with other countries, especially the U.S., to send more of the ammunition made scarcer by the Iran war. Failing that, he wants to make Patriot ammunition in Ukraine or win permission from Elon Musk to use his Starlink satellite communications system to guide strikes inside Russia that can hit its missile launchers.
It's unclear how many interceptors Ukraine has left. Zelenskyy said after a Russian attack Friday night that air defenses shot down only one ballistic missile “solely because there are no missiles for the Patriots.” Supplies of defensive missiles for Ukraine in the first half of this year fell to one-third of the 2025 level, Zelenskyy said.
“Ballistic interceptors are what could have saved the lives of those killed today,” Zelenskyy said Wednesday on social media. “It is very important for our partners to understand that delays in supplying them, or a reluctance to hand over anti-ballistic systems, lead directly to such horrific casualties and destruction.”
The targets hit in the barrage included a brewery, a warehouse for construction material, and a mail sorting office that had nothing to do with the war, Zelenskyy said. But Russia's Defense Ministry said the businesses had military ties.
Thursday was set as an official day of mourning for the 17 people killed, said Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv's regional military administration. In addition to the dead, at least 44 people were injured.
With U.S.-led peace efforts apparently stalled, Ukraine has stepped up its deep strikes on key Russian targets such as oil refineries to try to compel Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate. Zelenskyy has accepted an unconditional ceasefire demanded by U.S. President Donald Trump but Putin has refused.
In its latest attack on facilities for Russia’s biggest online retailer Wildberries, Ukrainian drones hit a warehouse in the Tula region south of Moscow, the company and the region’s governor said.
Ukraine has struck over a dozen Wildberries facilities in under three weeks, saying the company provides goods that can be used by the military. Kyiv is also keen to unsettle the Russian public with high-profile attacks.
The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces downed 475 Ukrainian drones overnight over 16 Russian regions, as well as in illegally annexed Crimea and the waters of the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.
Russia fired 24 ballistic missiles, four other missiles identified as either hypersonic Zircon or supersonic Onik cruise missiles, and 115 drones, many of them jet-powered and harder to stop due to their speed, Ukrainian authorities said.
The Russian Defense Ministry said it struck transport, logistics and distribution centers involved in war-related activity, four of which were in Kyiv.
“The enemy is attacking everything indiscriminately — retail warehouses, food storage facilities, logistics hubs, enterprises, building materials warehouses,” Zelenskyy adviser Serhii Beskrestnov, said on Facebook.
It was not immediately possible to independently reconcile the different Russian and Ukrainian accounts of the military value of the targets.
Kyiv warehouse worker Mykhailo Hukov said an air raid warning that included a ballistic missile threat sounded just after midnight.
“So everyone started running,” he told The Associated Press. “I turned everyone around so they wouldn’t go back inside for their backpacks.”
In an underground shelter minutes later, they heard “very loud explosions.”
Ukraine’s largest private postal operator, Nova Poshta, said a Russian cluster munition destroyed one of its sorting centers in Kyiv.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the center was “storing and distributing dual-use goods, including those used in the production of long- and medium-range uncrewed aerial vehicles, as well as robotic systems and electronic warfare systems.” It claimed that two other logistics centers in the Kyiv region stored drones or components for drones.
Separately, Russia said its forces hit three bulk carriers on the Black Sea south of Odesa that it claimed were transporting Ukrainian weapons and military equipment. Ukrainian officials didn't comment on that claim.
Ivan Braga, a 46-year-old truck driver from Moldova who was in Kyiv during the attack, said he and a colleague ran from their vehicle when it was struck by shrapnel in a blast wave.
“We didn’t even have time to grab our documents or anything else,” Braga told AP. “I couldn’t believe it. I’d already been in Kyiv and had heard explosions before, but nothing like today.”
One of the companies that came under heavy fire was Epicentr, one of Ukraine’s largest retail and construction chains. It said in a statement on Facebook that “in minutes, Russian missiles destroyed what the company had built over decades.” One employee was killed and three others were wounded.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the Epicenter logistics center handled order processing, sorting, storing, and delivery of dual-use goods and components for drone production.
The director of a factory that makes drones for the Russian military was seriously injured when his car exploded in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg, news reports said Wednesday.
Vladimir Tkachuk was hospitalized after the explosion late Tuesday just outside the city 1,400 kilometers (about 870 miles) east of Moscow, the state Tass and RIA Novosti agencies said.
His factory, Uraldronzavod, manufactured the Upyr, a cheap and simple drone that was popular with troops for the protection it offers against jamming.
Russian officials made no comment, but authorities previously have blamed Ukraine for a string of bombings and other attacks targeting military officials.
AP reporters Illia Novikov, Volodymyr Yurchuk and Dan Bashakov in Kyiv contributed.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Firefighters put out a fire after Russian missiles hit a food warehouse near Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Firefighters put out a fire after Russian missiles hit a warehouse in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Dan Bashakov)
Firefighters put out a fire after Russian missiles hit a warehouse in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Dan Bashakov)
Firefighters examine a fragment of a Russian missile after air strikes at a food warehouse in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Firefighters put out a fire after Russian missiles hit a food warehouse near Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
A firefighter puts out a fire after Russian missiles hit a food warehouse near Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
A postal worker clears the debris at the damaged Nova Poshta postal warehouse after Russian missiles strikes in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Firefighters put out a fire after Russian missiles hit a warehouse in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Dan Bashakov)
Firefighters put out a fire after Russian missiles hit a warehouse in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Dan Bashakov)
