President Donald Trump unloaded on The New York Times Tuesday over its coverage of his planned renovation of the iconic Reflecting Pool on the National Mall, accusing the paper of defending what he called a costly Obama-Biden failure.
Trump’s proposed overhaul includes resurfacing the famous pool with an “American flag blue” coloring as part of a broader effort to restore the landmark stretching between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.
“[T]hey are now trying to justify Obama and Biden’s expensively botched attempt at fixing the long broken, unsightly, and unsanitary Reflecting Pool,” Trump wrote on TRUTH Social.
Don’t miss the stories that matter.
Get Sean’s breaking news alerts — free, direct to your inbox.
The Reflecting Pool last underwent a major renovation in 2012 during the Obama administration in a project that reportedly cost $34 million.
Trump claimed the true costs ballooned far beyond that and argued the final result left Washington with a leaking and foul-smelling mess.
“They squandered at least 55 Million Dollars haplessly trying, with no chance of success, to get the Reflecting Pool to work,” Trump wrote.
“Instead, they made it worse, keeping it closed for years, and ending up with a leaking, smelling, ode to both of their failed Administrations.”
Trump contrasted that effort with his own proposal, insisting his administration could rebuild the site faster, cheaper and better.
“I worked with our now strong Department of the Interior and explained to them that we should view this as a highly sophisticated swimming pool,” he wrote.
“Instead of taking 4 years to build… we could construct a far superior Reflecting Pool for 5 or 6 Million Dollars, and could complete the project in 2 weeks rather than 4 years.”
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 12, 2026
The president also singled out New York Times reporter David Fahrenthold, mocking him for allegedly dismissing the project as a “paint job” while ignoring what Trump described as enormous taxpayer savings.
🚨 OMG. President Trump just posted Hussein Obama, Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi swimming in SEWAGE at the Lincoln reflecting pool
Because Dems oppose Trump cleaning up the algae and goose poop-infested body of water 😭
“Dumacrats love sewage”
NOBODY like 47 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/2cHvAtzZOq
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) May 12, 2026
The renovation effort is already facing legal resistance.
The Cultural Landscape Foundation has filed a challenge arguing the project violates the National Historic Preservation Act, setting up another courtroom clash over Trump’s aggressive reshaping of federal landmarks and public spaces.
More over at Just The News:
Trump rages at NYT over coverage of his reflecting pool project https://t.co/xnPcoTpCAl
— Just the News (@JustTheNews) May 12, 2026
![Hegseth Demands Fitness Requirements, Says 'Fat Troops' 'Not Who We Are' [WATCH]](https://teamredvictory.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Hegseth-Demands-Fitness-Requirements-Says-Fat-Troops-Not-Who-We-350x250.jpg)
