Lawrence O'Donnell on Tuesday took on Donald Trump for claiming that he doesn't "really have enough time" to explain his unpopular Iran war.
Trump's Excuse
The MSNBC host played clips of Trump telling reporters outside the White House that he's "too busy" to explain the conflict, despite using his appearance before the press to discuss other topics, such as the resurfacing of the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool.
"It's going to be beautiful. It's going to be waterproof. It's going to be reflecting again," Trump said.
O'Donnell, who watched the clip silently from his studio chair, chimed in: "Yeah, yeah, yeah. He said the pool is going to be 'waterproof.'"
Ballroom Project Details
In a separate, roughly 1-minute clip, Trump spoke over hammering and drilling while in front of his hopeful site for the $400 million White House ballroom project. He gushed about what he said could become "one of the most beautiful buildings that's ever been built in the country," claiming that the ballroom's design took notes from "glamorous times" in Rome and Greece.
"This is a porch that looks out over the city. Also, it's developed in such a way that we can have military there, but the entire roof is developed for military," the president droned on about the project while remarking on an artist rendering.
"They're very high, they're higher than just about anything else. They have a 360-degree vision of Washington, D.C. They have a massive drone capacity. Not only is it drone-proof — if a drone hits it, it bounces off. It won't have any impact."
O'Donnell cut back in: "No time to explain his war."
Historical Context
Earlier in his monologue, the host mockingly congratulated Trump for becoming "the first president in history" who claimed to be "too busy" to explain a war he's waging.
"Every wartime president prior to Donald Trump has been much busier in their workday and their weekends than Donald Trump, but none of them ever said they were too busy to explain the war that America was waging," he said. "That's Donald Trump's unique contribution to the role of commander in chief."
