Democratic Senator Demands Trump Pay for Reflecting Pool Disaster
Source: The New Republic · Bias: Left
Summary
Democratic Senator John Hickenlooper is calling for President Donald Trump to refund taxpayers out of his own pocket for the millions spent on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, HuffPost reports.“For weeks, Americans have watched a national embarrassment unfold on the National Mall,” Hickenlooper wrote in a letter to the president obtained by HuffPost. “Under the guise of an ‘emergency,’ your Administration bypassed competitive bidding processes to rush a renovation of the iconic Reflecting Pool.… Today, the Reflecting Pool is a fluorescent green swamp of algae, and the expensive blue sealant is already peeling off the bottom in sheets.”Though Trump blamed “vandals” for the pool’s problems, it’s more likely that shoddy workmanship is the issue: Trump rushed the painting of the pool so that it would be “American Flag Blue” by July 4, and awarded no-bid contracts worth millions of dollars—one to Greenwater Services, the ironically named company of a longtime Trump donor and Mar-a-Lago neighbor.Even if mysterious assailants did take a knife to the reflecting pool’s peeling blue paint—something Trump has declined to provide any evidence of—that wouldn’t explain how the reflecting pool became a bright green, algae-filled swamp.“This was not a result of vandalism, but your administration’s incompetence,” Hickenlooper wrote in his letter. “The bill for this fiasco should only belong to you, Mr. President.”In order to fix what it broke, the administration is planning to spend even more money to re-drain the pool and conduct repairs. Trump’s promise to “drain the swamp” is starting to sound a lot more literal.
Related Coverage
- 'Demon in human skin!' Fox News host loses it as Dem threatens to upend Texas Senate race (Far Left — Raw Story)
- Melania gives Congress private deadline as she works around Trump's team: report (Far Left — Raw Story)
- Trump announces pardons for pollution violators prosecuted for "fixing their car" (Center — Politics - CBSNews.com)
- Trump Pardons Six People Pursued for ‘Fixing Their Car’ (Center — Bloomberg Politics)
- Sources: Trump likely to pardon pollution violators; weighing clemency for Diddy (Center — Politics - CBSNews.com)
- Fox host warns Trump will pay for his 'breathtaking' corruption (Left — Alternet.org)
- Trump Scores Appeals Court Victory in Battle Over National Park Historical Displays (Right — RedState)
- Signs of Victory: I-95 Welcomes President Donald Trump Int'l Airport (Right — RedState)
Daily Analysis
Read the full Parallax Pulse for June 24, 2026 — an AI-powered analysis of how Left and Right media covered the biggest stories this day.
More Headlines From June 24, 2026
- Army Veteran Conley Projected to Win NY Race, Face GOP’s Lawler (Center)
- House gives final approval to bipartisan housing bill aimed at lowering costs (Center Left)
- MAGA media caught manufacturing conspiracy theories to protect Trump from humiliation (Left)
- International ‘deep state’ prime target of Trump-style candidate for UN chief (Right)
- New Study Reveals How Much Young People Have to Struggle to Buy Homes (Left)






