Over the weekend, Donald Trump posted an AI-generated video showing him proudly giving George Washington – the first US president, who famously insisted leaders should live like citizens, not kings – a tour of his controversial ballroom.

In real life, the ballroom is still a building site, subject to multiple lawsuits. Earlier this month, a federal appeals court ruled that Trump’s demolition of the historic East Wing of the White House was illegal, leaving the future of the project up in the air.

Deep into the second year of his second term, Trump seems to be increasingly focused on his (self-appointed) role of designer-in-chief – even with what might seem like much more pressing demands on his time.

The US is almost six months into what Trump said would be a two-week war with Iran and urgent issues are mounting. US missile stocks are so depleted they might not be replenished before 2030, conditions on the USS aircraft carrier are so bad that crew members have reportedly attempted to jump overboard, and traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is at barely a fraction of its usual level.

But over the last few months, the US President has been almost maniacal in his relentless urge to remodel first the Oval Office, then the White House and then much of Washington DC to suit his own preferences. This often involves colossal projects decked out in gold trimming.

In the last week, Trump has taken things even further. He is now imposing his design preferences on the US Navy and its latest vessels.

Trump’s first intervention, announced last week, was to order the navy to return to a steam-powered system to launch planes from aircraft carriers, after complications with the electromagnetic system the latest generation of ships uses.

On paper at least, this could be a sensible move. The electromagnetic launch system was billions of dollars over budget, caused months if not years of delays and has been plagued with technical issues even after deployment. Going back to a tried-and-tested technology doesn’t seem like a bad idea against that backdrop, but the reality is, of course, far more complicated.

The new aircraft carriers have already been designed and are partway through construction – and their design simply doesn’t have the space for a much bulkier steam system. But Trump doesn’t seem to care. Instead of saving money, his plans would cost billions more and introduce years of additional delays – at a time when the US needs the new carriers for its fleet.

Trump’s plans for catapults, however, look downright practical when compared to his other demand for the navy. According to reporting in , Trump has now demanded that the new aircraft carriers’ island – the tower-like structure that contains the ship’s bridge – should be moved to be more central.

His reason for this is reportedly that he wants the new vessels to look more like the aircraft carriers used in the Second World War. This is an immensely complex change, involving altering the ships’ structure to carry its weight entirely differently.

The island’s current location is also optimised so that it can launch as many planes as possible as quickly as possible in an emergency. Changing it to suit Trump’s aesthetic preference would inevitably take years and cost billions more.

The President’s haphazard approach to major projects, combined with his particular aesthetic preferences, is racking up an increasingly large bill for the US taxpayer.

Sometimes this has been Trump fixating on certain small details of his White House. It could be as cheap and relatively easy as sticking gold decoupage on to the walls or paving over the Rose Garden.

But Trump’s renovations are becoming notably more lavish and controversial. He insisted the White House needs an expensive 800-person ballroom, which he says is also essential for security because it will, he claims, host a drone port and underground command bunker.

He is also trying to build a huge triumphal arch – modelled on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris – that will overshadow nearby Arlington National Cemetery.

Trump has claimed private donors would fund all of these lavish projects, but budgeted spending on the White House alone has already surpassed $900m (£665m).

Meanwhile, the President is fussing over the installation of a helipad on the White House’s South Lawn, which he insisted must be ripped up and started from scratch because he didn’t like how it looked.

Despite the midterm elections fast approaching, a cost of living crisis tanking his popularity even with his own voters, and a war to manage, renovations are clearly weighing on Trump’s mind.

He is also still dealing with the PR nightmare of his botched renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which resulted in peeling flooring, dead ducks and algae blooms.

It may be a case of Trump, who cut his teeth as a property developer, leaning back into familiar ground as challenges mount, or it could just be his desire to reshape as much of the world as he can, while he can.

Until recently, Trump’s obsession with development projects were little more than a crime against good taste and a waste of public money. But if his passion for meddling continues to lead him to demand changes to major military procurement, it could soon threaten US national security as well.