President Donald Trump can’t shake the fallout from the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool disaster.
Trump, 80, has renovated the popular tourist attraction in Washington as part of a plot to remake the nation’s capital in his own image.
First, Trump ordered the pool’s floor painted “American flag blue,” and everything went completely downhill from there.
Soon after, the $16 million renovation became a punchline as people shared images of peeling paint, chunks of blue sealant rising to the top, and thick green algae overtaking the water.
Instead of acknowledging his administration’s mistakes, Trump blamed “vandals” for causing a 350-foot gash in the pool without presenting evidence.
Workers eventually erected fences around the Reflecting Pool to hide the damage left behind
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However, the president’s team claimed that crews put up the physical barriers as part of the preparation for the July Fourth fireworks.
Fast forward to post-Independence Day, images of debris from the fireworks display scattered near the pool circulated on the internet on July 5.
Reports claimed ash covered the area near the pool. Workers waded into the Reflecting Pool to remove debris left behind after Trump’s celebration.
Yet and still, Trump took to Truth Social, calling it the “Best fireworks show, EVER!”
Others focused on the mess Trump and his team left behind on the National Mall.
“Shooting off fireworks next to the Reflecting Pool was a spectacularly stupid idea. This is the result 7/6 9:30 AM,” read one post on X.
Someone on the platform replied, “What did you expect from the most stupid person on the planet?!” A like-minded poster declared, “Spectacularly stupid is the MAGA way.”
A third person expressed, “What a nightmare.”
Others argued that the Fourth of July crowds only made Trump’s Reflecting Pool looks worse than it already was. One X user posted, “It’s looking worse there every day.”
“The Reflecting Pool got treated like a giant trash can on the Fourth,” another person wrote.
Frustration quickly turned into sarcasm when someone asked, “Who will be charged with this vandalism?”
Another shocked X user simply posted, “OMG.”
The massive fireworks on July 4 also led to poor air quality in Washington, leaving a noticeable haze over the city for hours.
“You’re also inhaling fine particulates, probably some of the debris from the fireworks,” Dr. Will Petri, a Virginia physician, explained to WUSA9. “Those fine particulates and the ozone can cause inflammation in your body.”
The brutal heatwave during the holiday weekend also played a factor.
D.C. Fire and EMS transported 40 people to local hospitals, while first responders treated hundreds more for heat-related illnesses during the America 250 celebration. Many left exhausted long before the fireworks began later that night.
Despite the backlash, Trump seems prepared to move forward with his facelift plans for the Reflecting Pool.
He has flooded his Truth Social timeline with pictures of the pool over the past several days.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum co-signed his boss’s unproven claim that vandals damaged the Reflecting Pool.
Burgum, 69, also confirmed the government will keep the same no-bid contractor that performed the initial disastrous work.
“[The paint] didn’t peel off. There was vandalism. There were box cutters. There have been seven arrests,” the former North Dakota governor said during a CNN interview on July 5.
When host Dana Bash questioned Burgum whether he could prove criminal activity, he responded, “Absolutely, we can.” He also pushed back on the speculation that the president’s SUV motorcade driving on the drained Reflecting Pool caused damage.
Overall, the Trump-backed American 250 celebrations became a public relations fumble for the MAGA frontman.
