Trump Launches AI Surveillance of Reflecting Pool as Disaster Grows
The New Republic

Trump Launches AI Surveillance of Reflecting Pool as Disaster Grows

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Federal law enforcement were spotted installing AI-powered surveillance towers at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in the latest escalation of President Donald Trump’s weird obsession.In one video shared by TMZ Tuesday, U.S. Marshals escorted an LVT Mobile Security Unit to the edge of the Reflecting Pool.President Trump looks like he's trying to catch pool vandals with some fancy new technology because new A.I. surveillance systems were just installed at the the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. 📹 pic.twitter.com/BM9An5g3Jz— TMZ (@TMZ) June 23, 2026In another video a day earlier, Daily Mail reporter John Michael Raasch witnessed a surveillance tower being towed in circles around the supposedly embattled landmark by U.S. Parks Police.US Park Police have a mobile surveillance truck circling the Reflecting Pool after Trump said it was vandalized. I’ve asked Park Police, National Park employees and local authorities about the 300ft gash Trump says is here. No one knows or won’t comment. I don’t see a gash. pic.twitter.com/wa6hAmwl8Z— Jon Michael Raasch (@JMRaasch) June 22, 2026These towers do more than just record passerby: They automatically detect and alert so-called threats, and use AI-powered audio alerts, strobes, and a powerful spotlight to deter crime. Most likely, they will just catch tourists.The installation of security equipment is a significant escalation after several people, including a former U.S. Olympian, were arrested for allegedly vandalizing the Reflecting Pool. Trump has nonsensically claimed that vandals cut a massive slit in the bottom of the pool, but has refused to provide any evidence of the crime, which no one else has spotted. Now, it seems that he doesn’t want anyone to get too close.Trump has directed more than $16 million in renovations toward the Reflecting Pool, but just days before the country’s 250th anniversary, it was once again filled with algae and appeared to be literally falling apart.