Trump’s claims that ‘vandals’ are to blame don’t hold water so far – key US politics stories from Monday 22 JuneDonald Trump is claiming – without providing evidence – that the sorry state of the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool weeks after a $14m renovation is the work of “vandals”.On Monday, Trump was adamant it was not the pool company to blame for the algae blooms and peeling paint, instead pointing to five people arrested for vandalism and five more are under investigation. Continue reading...
President Trump went off on reporters, attempting to deny that vandals are destroying the Reflecting Pool at the Lincoln Memorial and criticizing his repair project to fix the broken and filthy pond. Deranged liberals have been tearing out the new American flag blue sealant that lines the bottom of the pool with the intention of giving the water a blue reflection.
The post WATCH: Trump Goes Off on Reporters Over Reflecting Pool Vandalism, Says 5 Arrested and 5 Under Investigation – “You’ll See It in Court! You Write Fake News!” appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
President Donald Trump claimed on Monday that he is going to sue ABC News over a report by the network about the renovation to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl reported on the souring conditions at the Reflecting Pool last week, including a shot of him lifting the peeling bottom of the pool. Trump wrote on Truth Social that the network "failed to report" on times when the Democrats renovated the pool, and he decided to sue them because of it. "In describing the Vandalism that took place at the Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C., ABC FAKE NEWS, one of the worst in the business, even paying me $16,000,000 for past bad and inaccurate reporting, failed to report that their close 'friends,' Dumocrats Obama and Biden, spent over 100 Million Dollars on the Reflecting Pool, and it never worked," Trump wrote in the post. "In fact, it was rarely open due to leaks and 'stench,'" he added. "They wanted to spend 300 to 400 Million Dollars, but just let it ROT. I spent approximately 16 Million Dollars, and it came out great, except for the Vandalism, which we are now fixing. It was also a much bigger job than originally envisioned, including the outer areas and sidewalks. We are preparing lawsuits against ABC for false reporting. I like their money, which will be given to the U.S. Treasury!"Trump's claims came at a time when the Reflecting Pool renovation project was under significant scrutiny. The project was initially estimated to cost roughly $2 million, but the cost ballooned to around $16 million. Trump also promised to get rid of the algae-infested water in the pool, but the algae have returned in full force.
CNN data guru Harry Enten has some bad news for President Donald Trump: the vast majority of Americans — including most Republicans — think he surrendered to Iran in order to end the war asap rather than because he had achieved any of his objectives. According to Enten, two-thirds of all voters held this opinion, but surprisingly, over half of Republicans — 53 percent — shared this view. “Look at this,” said Enten. “66 percent of Americans simply think he wanted to end the war, and even among Republicans, his own party, don’t think that, in fact, the Trump administration met its war goals. In fact, they think he wants to just end the war.” What’s more, the numbers show that most Americans don’t believe Trump’s claim that the U.S. won the war. Said Enten, “What they think happened was Iran was fighting back, America looked at the chance of victory in terms of what Trump initially laid out as the chance of victory — they did not think that that was possibly going to be accomplished. We’re talking about two-thirds of Americans, and even a majority of Republicans.”According to Enten, disapproval of the conflict has been consistent, starting at around 64 percent during its early weeks, rising to 66 percent, then dropping back to 64 percent, with 75 percent of independents holding negative views. “No matter what deal has been made, the clear majority, two-thirds of Americans, still disapprove of the job that Donald Trump is doing when it comes to that conflict,” Enten said, noting that opinions haven’t shifted since the peace agreement was signed. “Americans still disapprove of the job that Donald Trump is doing on Iran. The polling is quite steady.” What’s more, the latest polling shows that 57 percent of Americans think the war caused more problems than it solved, with only 21 percent saying the opposite and another 21 percent saying the situation is exactly the same as before. That’s 78 percent of Americans who think the outcome is the same or worse than before the conflict: hardly a ringing endorsement of Trump’s decision to launch war in the first place. That same poll, conducted in the final days of the war, found that 78 percent of Americans believe the U.S. should end the war immediately, versus just 22 percent who think the U.S. should persist until Iran gives up further concessions. This has proven a major drag on the president's approval rating in general. As USA Today explains, “Trump's approval rating overall has been underwater for the majority of his return to office, but the war's disruption to the global oil supply chain has pushed prices up, and his approval rating down.” Since the war’s end, Trump’s approval has ticked up just slightly, reaching 38 percent.
Dozens of federal judges — including 11 appointed by President Donald Trump over the course of his two terms — have been unable to hide their “disdain” for the administration’s attacks on the judiciary. This is according to a new analysis by CNN, which found 77 rulings in which federal judges “launched blistering attacks on the president and his administration over a range of issues since January 2025.”As the Daily Beast explains, “These damning rulings from judges appointed by presidents of both parties include condemnations of the Trump administration for violating the Constitution, openly disobeying court orders and acting unlawfully. In one particularly scathing ruling, a federal judge appointed by Trump in Florida ordered ICE to immediately release immigrant Dmitrii Iastrebov while blasting the government’s ‘complete inability to follow judicial directions’ in the case.”“A federal court is not a testing lab where the Executive Branch can pilot a concession to get a case closed, stand by silently while its own administrative process flouts the resulting mandate and then stroll back in demanding a clean slate,” Judge Dudek wrote. “Give me a break.” The report also cited 64 examples of judges accusing the Trump administration of abusing its power by attempting to act beyond the legal bounds of executive authority. As one judge wrote in May 2025, “The Constitution does not permit immigration detention to be used as a punitive or suppressive tool against protected speech.”“What we’ve seen over the last 16 months is far above and beyond what we’ve seen before,” said CNN Supreme Court analyst and law professor at Georgetown University Law Center Steve Vladeck, who also noted the concerning frequency with which judges have had to bench slap the White House over Trump’s second term. “You can find one-off examples of bad behavior ... but here it’s systemic.”When asked for a response, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told the Daily Beast: “Per usual, CNN is focused entirely on the wrong thing. The real problem is the unrelenting, unlawful rulings issued by some lower court judges who push their own policy goals and are clearly triggered by President Trump’s agenda. President Trump will not waver when implementing the America First initiatives he was elected on and no amount of judicial activism will deter him.”But as CNN notes, “The criticism has been extraordinary, both in terms of its intensity and consistency[.] Across dozens of rulings, federal judges have described the government’s actions using scathing language: ‘squalid,’ ‘irrational,’ and ‘shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear.’”
Fox News host Brian Kilmeade lost it, calling for President Donald Trump to replace JD Vance as Iran negotiator — blasting his Israel criticism as "ridiculous."On Fox & Friends, Kilmeade unloaded on Vice President JD Vance after Vance warned Israeli cabinet members Thursday that Trump is "the only powerful ally" they have "anywhere left in the entire world." The remarks came as U.S. and Iranian negotiators were deep into a 60-day sprint to flesh out the memorandum of understanding the two countries signed last week."The president's gotta go on the inside," Kilmeade said, "because then the negotiators are wasting their time. No one's happy with this document. The president doesn't seem to be happy.""The fact that he hopped on Friday and started ripping Israel and said they have no friends — that is ridiculous!" Kilmeade continued. "Have you heard of the Abraham Accords? Do you understand that the Gulf States are tighter with Israel than ever before?"He then demanded Trump take over directly — and called Vance out by name."I think JD Vance, who's late to this party, doesn't understand the depth of the disagreement," Kilmeade said.MS NOW reported this week that Vance has compounded his inexperience with a series of false claims — including insisting that the deal's terms for destroying Iran's enriched uranium stockpile are "spelled out very clearly," when the memorandum of understanding includes no such provisions. Vance repeated the claim even after it was discredited.The vice president arrived Sunday at the Lake Lucerne Summit in Switzerland — where U.S. negotiators sat across from Iran's foreign minister and parliamentary speaker — but PBS reported Trump threatened to "hit Iran very hard again" on social media while talks were underway.Fox & Friends contributor Lawrence Jones, who spoke with Trump over the weekend, said the president told him privately the memorandum of understanding "was a starting point" — and that if Iran kept pushing him, "I gotta strike them."
Trump warning that Iran ‘won’t have a country’ if it closes strait of Hormuz contrasts with vice-president’s tone seeking to turn over ‘new leaf’ with Tehran – key US politics stories from Sunday 21 JuneDonald Trump threatened to resume war with Iran even as his vice-president JD Vance met Iranian officials to begin peace talks in Switzerland.Also overshadowing negotiations in Bürgenstock was Tehran’s announcement it had again closed the strait of Hormuz, a threat made because of ongoing Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon. Continue reading...
