Reality Defies Trump’s Narrative
6/22/202612 min
June 20, 2026
The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has become a metaphor for the Trump presidency, Trump claimed he would fix the reflecting pool for $1.8 million, When renovations were declared complete Trump claimed it was a triumph, But the cost was vastly over the budget, a no-bid contract had been awarded for the work, and the work immediately failed, 12 days after it was done, the epoxy from the bottom of the pool was peeling off, but the Interior Department claimed the White House didn’t know that the work had been contracted to a company that Trump originally said he had chosen, A former Olympic athlete, who stopped by the pool and put his hand in the water to feel the detached material, was arrested for destruction of government property, Trump had found someone to blame for his blunders, The reflecting pool is defying his narrative, as are Iran and Israel, Israel does not consider itself bound by the MOU signed by Trump, US Intelligence expects Netanyahu to continue striking Hezbollah, Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz again, J.C. Vance left for Switzerland for negotiations, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is refusing to go along with Trump’s narrative about her, showing how Trump’s power is crumbling, The National Guard is patrolling the area around the reflecting pool as Trump claims vandalism by additional people - although security cameras offer no proof of either vandalism or arrests.
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsHeather Cox Richardson· Host0:00
[theme music] June 20th, 2026. The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has become a metaphor for the Trump presidency. Beginning in early April, Trump boasted he was going to fix the Reflecting Pool after what he claimed was gross neglect by former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden. He claimed the repairs, including sealing the pool and painting it American flag blue, would cost about one-point-eight million dollars, and that it would all be finished by July 4th, 2026, in time for the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Repeatedly, he bashed his predecessors over the pool, insisting that his skills would enable him to make it better than ever at minimal cost, and that the repairs could last for a hundred years. The government declared the pool renovations complete on June 6th, and water began flowing back into it. Trump immediately claimed it was a triumph. "Thank you, President Trump," he wrote on social media. But the story was not over. David A. Fahrenthold of The New York Times reported that the repairs had, in fact, run far over budget to at least fourteen-point-two million dollars. The administration had awarded a no-bid contract