‘SICK, DERANGED PEOPLE!’ Trump Claims He Personally Inspected ‘Seriously Vandalized’ Reflecting Pool As Algae Continues to Spread

Associated Press

President Donald Trump claimed Sunday that he personally inspected the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool’s condition as U.S. Park Service crews continued to try to clean up the ever-expanding algae blooms.

But instead of blaming the algae itself, or the massive amounts of hydrogen peroxide that most likely caused the blue coating to start peeling, Trump again blamed vandals.

Trump returned to the White House Sunday from Camp David, where he spent the night for undisclosed purposes. White House reporters did not record a visit by the president to the reflecting pool.

“Work will begin immediately on fixing the seriously vandalized Reflecting Pool,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I just inspected it, and could only say to myself, and those gathered around me, WOW, who would do such a thing? SICK, DERANGED PEOPLE! We will fix it? [sic] President DJT.”

The century-old reflecting pool began turning a vile shade of pea-green just days after crews completed coating the bottom with blue sealant and pumped in clean water. Crews dumped gallons of hydrogen peroxide into the pool in an attempt to kill the algae, but the blue bottom began peeling off in sheets, instead — even though Trump claimed his $14+ million renovation would last for 40 to 50 years.

As more and more journalists and influencers reported on the slimy mess, and some tourists took pieces of the peeling sealant as souvenirs, Trump blamed the entire situation on “vandalism.”

According to The New York Times, however, vandalism had little to do with the problem. The paper reported in May that Trump’s project ignored a “major underlying problem” with old, leaky pipes that needed to replaced, lest they allow algae to proliferate in the D.C. sun.

But just yesterday, authorities arrested a 47-year-old former Olympian and charged him with “destruction of government property.” The Bethesda man, David Hearn, had paused his bike ride to take a look at reflecting pool situation and said he dipped his hand in the pool to experience what the detached blue liner “felt like” for himself.

“I reached in there, and I was able to grab the end of that flapping piece, the already peeling piece,” Hearn said in an interview with The Washington Post. “It was still attached to the bottom. I didn’t remove anything.”

Regardless, Hearn was cuffed, charged, and given a notice to appear in court in July.

Trump, meanwhile, threatened “Years in jail!” for anyone caught vandalizing government property. And Sunday, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro vowed to prosecute reflecting pool vandals “to the fullest extent.”

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