‘Insane’: Trump Goes Off the Rails During Wild Rant, Calls the Reflecting Pool the Wrong Name —Then Makes a Stunning Claim About the Troubled Renovations
Donald Trump offered a rather unusual description of his latest White House renovation projects after weeks of chaos.
The 80-year-old president has been fixated on upgrading the popular tourist attraction located on the National Mall in Washington.
While touting White House upgrades, Trump resurrected a claim about damage to the reflecting pool despite what officials found after it was drained.
The Interior Department awarded no-bid contracts worth more than $14 million in renovation costs to companies with close ties to Trump’s presidential campaign or private businesses.
After the overhaul, workers painted the basin “American flag blue,” but the coating soon peeled off and floated to the top of the water.
The newly installed recirculating water system did not prevent a layer of algae blooms from taking over the Reflecting Pool, causing more embarrassment for Trump.
Instead of taking responsibility for hiring subpar contractors, the president blamed vandals for damaging the site without providing any evidence.
Fast forward several months, and the Reflecting Pool had to be drained for a second time in July to perform additional repairs and remains a public relations thorn in Trump’s side.
The real estate developer Republican politician also had fencing and tarps placed around the DC landmark, blocking the view of the failed facelift.
While bragging about his Washington beautification efforts, Trump brought up the Reflecting Pool during his hour-long speech in Milford, Michigan, on July 27.
However, the former “The Apprentice” host’s recent boastful claims in the Wolverine State about the remodeling job fell flat and sparked a conversation about his state of mind.
“The beautiful reflecting pond where we did some job. Somebody comes along and starts cutting it with a knife. They’re sick,” Trump told his crowd of supporters, again without providing proof.
He resumed, “But it’s in the hospital now, but it’s going to get better very soon. It’s almost ready to open. We could have kept it that way for a while, but I didn’t want to do that.”
“I wanted to have it fixed perfectly,” the president insisted, before continuing to speak about other random topics for nearly 30 more minutes.
Trump’s latest Reflecting Pool update powered a torrent of negative online reactions as a clip of his quotes about vandalism and hospitalization made the rounds.
“He just stands there and tells lies. He lies like the rest of us breathe,” someone on X declared in response to a short video from Trump’s speech.
A second poster exclaimed, “He’s insane. He needs to be in a Straight Jacket!” Similarly, another commenter tweeted, “I am so very tired of this sick old man.”
“The reflecting pool is in the hospital now; where can we send flowers?” one account jokingly asked, mocking the president’s saying the pool is getting medical care.
Over on Threads, one Trump critic wrote, “Besides being a pathological liar, he has a kindergarten-level sense of humor.”
“I think he tries to be cute, but he says so many whack-a-doodle things on a regular basis that you can’t pick out the intentional jokes from the crazy,” suggested another poster.
A third person on the social media platform proclaimed, “I honestly think [he] is the stupidest person alive. I’m mortified every time he speaks. It’s hard to watch.”
The Reflecting Pool disaster is not only hurting Trump’s self-made perception of being a master negotiator and expert builder, but regular citizens are also facing possible jail time because of it.
American Olympian David Hearn was one of at least a half-dozen individuals who have been arrested in connection with alleged vandalism at the Reflecting Pool.
Hearn, 67, pleaded not guilty to one felony count of property destruction. His trial is scheduled to start on Sept. 28 in D.C. Superior Court.
“I didn’t remove, tear, rip, break or destroy any of it,” the canoist told NBC News in June. “The condition of the Reflecting Pool was the same after I stepped away from the water as it was before I got there.”
On July 21, California Rep. Robert Garcia blasted Trump over the Reflecting Pool disaster in a “shadow hearing” where Democratic lawmakers probed the president’s “vanity projects” in the nation’s capital.
Garcia, 48, said, “Now there is currently a $14 million renovation underway that’s been plagued by algae and a bottom that’s chipping away and falling apart at the Reflecting Pool.”
“It was built so incompetently that they’re trying to put an innocent man in jail to cover up their shoddy work, with contracts going to Donald Trump’s friends and donors. What a disgrace and completely shameful,” the congressman added.