Trump forced to drain the reflecting pool swamp
6/26/202625 min
The Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool in Washington DC will have to be drained again. Donald Trump has blamed vandalism for the failure to keep the water “American flag blue”. But what if this small body of water is proof that the president can’t outrun the truth? Jonathan Freedland speaks to Arwa Mahdawi about why this project, which has cost the taxpayer millions, is proving to be such an embarrassing failure for a man obsessed with image
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First 90 secondsDonald Trump· Soundbite0:00
This is The Guardian. The reflecting pool looks fantastic. I just got pictures of it. It's beautiful, but somebody went in with a knife and cut it. They cut it up good.
Jonathan Freedland· Host0:16
Donald Trump is having to defend his renovation work on Washington's landmark reflecting pool.
Donald Trump· Soundbite0:22
They put, somebody said, fertilizer in the water. If you put fertilizer in the water, you get algae. But that doesn't matter because, uh, that's been purified. It's dead.
Jonathan Freedland· Host0:31
But is draining this swamp a metaphor for Trump's presidency?
Arwa Mahdawi· Guest0:36
This was gonna be an example of what a great leader he was, what a great builder he was. He has to stick with the story, otherwise his whole world implodes.
Jonathan Freedland· Host0:44
I'm Jonathan Freedland, columnist at The Guardian, and this is Politics Weekly: America. And I'm delighted to say that this week I'm joined by my fellow Guardian columnist, Arwa Mahdawi. Arwa, tell us a, a bit about this, uh, l- landmark. It's a reflecting pool, I should say partly because it's so hot here in London that it's not a swimming pool, even though many people would love to be hurling themselves into one right now. I include myself, and sharp-eyed viewers may have noticed I've relocated because of the heat into a different room here. Uh, but this is not that kind of reflecting pool.
Arwa Mahdawi· Guest1:19
No, this is a very long, shallow, decorative pool that was built [laughs] probably not in the best place for a long, shallow, decorative pool. It was built on marshland.