President Donald Trump unexpectedly invoked former President Barack Obama during a lengthy response to a reporter's question about the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovation on Monday. When CBS News senior White House correspondent Ed O'Keefe asked why Trump had claimed in April that the renovations would cost only $1 million and be completed in a week, Trump launched into a nearly two-minute rant.
Trump's Unsubstantiated Claims
“Okay. Ready. Barack Hussein Obama, have you ever heard of him?” Trump asked O'Keefe. “Yeah,” O'Keefe responded. “He spent two years and over $100 million on trying to fix it. You know what happened to it? Never even opened,” Trump said. “He took the water for the river, you know about that, right? It turned out to be putrid and it destroyed the whole thing. Spent over 100 million, him and Biden together spent $147 million. You know what happened? Never opened. You don’t mention that, right?”
Trump's figures lacked evidence. According to an analysis by The Associated Press, Obama's two-year renovation of the monument ended in 2012 and cost about $34 million. The Biden administration did not conduct any major work on the Reflecting Pool.
Current Condition of the Pool
Critics questioned why Trump blamed Obama for the current problems, which include peeling “American flag blue” paint and algae formation weeks after the pool was refilled. Social media reactions were swift, with users expressing disbelief and mockery. One user wrote, “OBAMA NOW??? HE’S FUCKING BLAMING OBAMA NOW????” while another compared Trump to “the sad grampa at the end of the bar, yelling at people over the jukebox.”
Tom Nichols tweeted, “The sad grampa at the end of the bar, yelling at people over the jukebox while the bartender pretends not to hear him.” Fred Wellman noted, “It’s always taken water from river! That’s the design. It’s not a swimming pool! For God’s sake.” Hemant Mehta added, “When blaming Biden isn’t working, go back and blame the guy before him. Bold strategy. Anyway, the pool was fine before Trump destroyed it.”
Reactions and Context
The incident highlights ongoing criticism of Trump's management of the historic site. The Reflecting Pool, originally completed in 1923, underwent a $34 million renovation under Obama that fixed leaks and improved water quality. Trump's claim of $147 million appears to be a fabrication. The pool's current condition has drawn attention to the maintenance challenges and the president's unconventional approach to accountability.
