WASHINGTON, D.C. – Over the weekend, President Donald Trump acknowledged there’s no video or photo evidence to support his claims of vandalism at the reflecting pool. Although he now seems to acknowledge the damage done to the pool’s surface was from contractor error, he still claims vandals did damage, too.
Fencing around the DC Reflecting Pool remains amid repair work and new signs have been posted stating the pool has been partially refilled to flush the pool’s piping system and blaming previous administrations for issues at the pool.
However, for the first time in the saga surrounding the renovation work at this iconic DC site, the President acknowledged that contractor error played a part in the issues at the reflecting pool. In a Truth Social post, Trump said in part: “As with many jobs, there was also some contractor error done by rushing the job for a July 4th opening, but it was a very small area of this massive pool, and was relatively inconsequential.”
In that same post, Trump still insists that vandals “‘violently'” ripped at the pool’s coating and adds “there was substantial other damage to the reflecting pool, also but, unfortunately, there is no video or proof, other than the damage, itself.”
The President has made renovations at the pool one of his priorities in DC. The administration drained the pool and painted the bottom of it “American flag blue”.
But soon after the nearly 15-million-dollar project was finished, the lining of the pool peeled away and noticeable amounts of algae bloomed. The President blamed vandals for the damage. However, the US Attorney for DC, Jeanine Pirro, dismissed charges against one of the accused after her office concluded the damage to the reflecting pool was the result of bad workmanship, not vandals.
“And I was disappointed with Jeanine Pirro,” Trump said in the Oval Office last week. “Really disappointed with Jeanine Pirro. She, she folded like an umbrella, and people get away with things and it’s, it’s a disgrace.”
Security cameras have been installed around the pool and the National Guard deployed to DC frequently patrols the site.
