President Donald Trump used the ongoing discourse over his decision to re-paint the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pool to hurl criticism against his opponents this week. In a post shared to his Truth Social platform early Tuesday, Trump shared an AI-produced image showing former President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama and House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) bathing up to their necks in a version of the pool that was filled with human waste. “Dumacrats Love Sewage,” the post read. The post was among dozens that Trump shared between Monday night and Tuesday morning, and one of several that referenced the controversial reflecting pool paint job, which the president has described as “American flag blue.”
Trump Blasts Reporter Over Cost Claims
About an hour earlier, Trump blasted New York Times reporter David A. Fahrenthold, who on Monday co-authored an article with Luke Broadwater indicating that the cost of the project had soared to $13.1 million, despite the president’s earlier claim it would be done for $1.8 million. “I worked with our now strong Department of the Interior and explained to them that we should view this as a highly sophisticated swimming pool, not the leaking, dilapidated facade, joints and all, of a building,” he wrote in part. “This is not just a paint job, like lowlife ‘reporter,’ David Fahrenthold, of the NYT so inaccurately and maliciously stated, it is a deeply complicated work of smart and beautiful construction. It won’t leak, it will shine, and be the pride of Washington D.C. for decades to come.”
Reflecting Pool Renovation Costs Soar
According to The New York Times, the Trump administration's controversial refurbishment of the Lincoln Memorial's Reflection Pool will cost $13.1 million, up from the president's initial claim of $1.8 million. Earlier this month, the president heralded the renovation of the National Mall’s 2,030-foot-long water feature with a similarly AI-produced image showing him floating in a more pristine version of the pool in an inflatable gold chair. Also included in the image were Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, alongside an unidentified ― and possibly imaginary ― woman wearing a gingham bikini.
Legal Challenge Filed Over Historic Preservation
The reflecting pool’s refurb is one of several large-scale projects Trump has unveiled in an effort to leave his personal mark on Washington, D.C., as the nation’s 250th anniversary draws near. However, it hit its first legal snag on Monday when The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF), an education and advocacy nonprofit, filed a lawsuit alleging that the Trump administration had failed to have the project reviewed federally, as required by the National Historic Preservation Act.
