As the US national debt climbed past $40tn for the first time on Wednesday, and the war with Iran he started nearly six months ago dragged on, forcing Americans already struggling to pay the bills to spend more on fuel, Donald Trump led the press corps on a tour of the extensive remodeling of the White House grounds he is personally overseeing in his role as the self-styled “builder-in-chief”.

The tour, during which Trump showed off upgrades such as a new granite driveway and refurbished columns, and expounded at length on newly laid grass, culminated in Trump autographing the back of a stone, inscribed with his name, to go in the center of the ornate new helipad he insists he needs.

All in all, the 40-minute diversion from the work of being US president, which seemed at times like a lost episode of the 1980s TV show Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, did little to help Trump beat the charge laid against him by senator Jon Ossoff, the Georgia Democrat who said earlier this week that the former real estate developer is not really that interested in the work of leading the nation.

While US service members “fight his war” on Iran, Ossoff said, “the president sleeps through his meetings. He golfs and trades stocks. See, he doesn’t want to do the job. He wants to build his ballroom” and travel with his close aide Natalie Harp on the luxury jet gifted to him by the emir of Qatar.

At one point in the tour, after Trump boasted about the “flawless granite” he replaced the asphalt driveway with, he told his captive audience of reporters: “We get the best stuff; one thing I know how to do is build.”

“It’s ridiculous the way this place was taken care of,” he said. “Nobody, including other presidents, they didn’t see it. But I see it because I was very good at real estate, like maybe the best in a lot of ways.”

Drawing attention to the newly laid sod around the helipad, golf course owner Trump repeated one of his favorite lines. “You know, grass has a life like humans have a life,” he said, for at least the tenth time in public remarks in the past year.

“It’s all been top-soiled. In other words, we put top soil, brand new earth on top. Very, you know, very – a lot of good ingredients in that earth for grass. If you’re grass, you’re very happy,” the president said.

He then pivoted to something like a product placement. “This grass is the highest quality. It was given free of charge by Scotts Miracle-Gro. Scotts. And Scotts is a great a great company. They actually contributed to my campaign,” he said.

“They said to me, ‘Sir, we’d like to replace the grass at the White House with the highest quality grass and do a real job.’ So, Scotts, I want to thank Scotts Miracle-Gro,” Trump went on. “It’s a very, I think the biggest grass company in the world, somebody said, but it’s very big and very good.”

Trump first made his observation that “grass has a life” during remarks last August to the federal forces he deployed to police Washington DC. “I know more about grass than any human being I think anywhere in the world,” the president claimed on that occasion.

He made the observation again in the Oval Office, while announcing his rebrand of the defense department as the Department of War, and has repeated on multiple occasions since, including: during a cabinet meeting; while sitting with the Nato secretary general; while signing an executive order on trade; and as he unveiled plans for a renovation of Dulles airport.

The president also suggested that his new helipad will be dual use, also serving as a second patio. “They can have events on it. They can have people go there for cocktails and then walk to the ballroom after that’s finished,” he said.

Before he was done with the tour on Wednesday, the president also reminded the press pack that he had donated the two huge flag poles now flanking the White House, and made a point of saying that those poles were of the highest quality.

“This is a great pole,” Trump said. “This is the top of the line. It’s tapered. Great. I’m very good at flagpoles.”