President Donald Trump threatened Monday to sue ABC News over its reporting on his failing renovation work at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
Trump's Social Media Post
Trump, in a post on his Truth Social platform, accused ABC of failing to report on the costs past administrations incurred to maintain the pool — a claim he has previously brought up. Trump has wrongly said that the Obama and Biden administrations spent hundreds of millions on the pool, but the Obama administration spent around $34 million on renovations, and the Biden administration didn’t conduct any major renovations.
Trump initially said the renovation would have a price tag between $1.5 million and $2 million, but that has since ballooned to more than $14 million. Upon completion, the weeks of work on the pool were almost immediately overshadowed by algae.
Previous Settlement Referenced
The president’s post also referenced his previous settlement with ABC. As part of that, the network agreed to give $15 million toward Trump’s presidential library to settle a lawsuit the president brought against anchor George Stephanopoulos. Experts at the time warned that the settlement would set a dangerous precedent for attacks on press freedom.
“We are preparing lawsuits against ABC for false reporting. I like their money, which will be given to the U.S. Treasury!” Trump wrote in his Monday post.
Conflict with ABC Journalist
Trump had singled out ABC’s Jonathan Karl on Friday, accusing the journalist of “sticking his hand into the Pool, and trying to rip the rubber off of the surface.” The president apparently took issue with an ABC News segment featuring Karl visiting the landmark and pulling a chunk of paint that had peeled away. “The $14 million job to redo the bottom of this Reflecting Pool is falling apart before our eyes,” the journalist said in the segment.
FCC Investigation and ABC Response
The news comes after the Federal Communications Commission launched an investigation into ABC’s “The View” over the equal-time rule and an early license review of ABC-operated stations. On Monday, ABC began broadcasting messages urging viewers to support them during the FCC’s investigation.
“‘The View’ has hosted your favorite guests and covered the issues you care about for nearly 30 years,” one commercial said, before pointing viewers to the FCC website. “Now the FCC wants to control who is allowed to appear on the show. Viewers, use your voice. Scan this QR code. You have until July 6.”
ABC News did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment, and the White House declined to provide additional comment.
