Trump can’t explain how his $14 million pool got destroyed
Trump’s $14 million renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has turned into a national embarrassment, and instead of owning it, he’s pointing fingers at invisible saboteurs. Within weeks of Trump declaring the project finished in time for the Fourth of July, the water was overtaken by a vivid green algae bloom and the brand new liner began peeling apart in chunks across the pool’s surface.
National Guard service members and U.S. Park Police are now patrolling the deck around the pool, and contractors have been deploying hydrogen peroxide and ozone nanobubbles in a scramble to fight the algae before the country’s 250th anniversary celebration. Rather than explain why the coating he personally selected started failing almost immediately, Trump took to social media to blame “SICK, DERANGED PEOPLE” for the damage, claiming a 300 foot gash was deliberately cut into the liner and that chemicals were illegally dumped into the water.
When reporters pressed him on how anyone could pull that off undetected in one of the most heavily guarded public spaces in the entire country, he had no answer beyond insisting “I can’t help it if somebody goes in with a knife and starts hacking it up.” He has not produced evidence, named a suspect, or explained the algae bloom that swept across the pool with no connection to any alleged vandalism at all.
Trump claims five people have already been arrested and five more are under suspicion, yet no charges have been confirmed. One of the people swept up was a 67 year old retired Olympic canoe racer who was detained for five hours simply for reaching out to touch a peeling piece of liner out of curiosity.
He picked the coating himself. He declared the job finished himself. And now he wants America to believe a phantom villain snuck past federal agents to sabotage his own pet project.
