President Donald Trump on Sunday once again blamed vandalism for the botched renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool – but also made a startling confession about the evidence.
Or, rather, the lack of evidence.
“There was substantial other damage to the Reflecting Pool, also but, unfortunately, there is no video or proof, other than the damage, itself,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday.
Trump has not only blamed vandals for supposedly damaging the Reflecting Pool, but repeatedly insisted that he had proof.
“We have photographs, or tapes, like moving cameras, right?” he said just days ago.
Trump made similar claims multiple other times, including in June.
“We also have pictures,” he told reporters.
When pressed to show those images, he said they would come out in time.
“At the right time you’ll see it,” Trump said, per CBS News. “You’ll see it in court.”
Ken Cedeno / AFP via Getty Images
Trump was livid last week when Jeanine Pirro, the former Fox News host who is now US attorney for the District of Columbia, dropped criminal charges against former Olympic athlete David Hearn, who had been accused of damaging the Reflecting Pool.
Hearn had insisted all along that he was innocent, and last week, Pirro released a statement admitting that the damage was caused by a botched installation and not vandalism.
In his post on Sunday, however, Trump insisted that “a highly credible witness” who works for the National Park Service saw Hearn “violently” rip the “somewhat delicate coating.”
That also flies in the face of other Trump claims.
In May, for example, Trump said the lining was “so strong, so powerful” that it couldn’t be cut with a knife. He even drove his motorcade across it while it was being installed to inspect the work.
Alex Brandon – Pool/Getty Images
Trump admitted that “there was also some contractor error done,” but insisted it “was relatively inconsequential.”
Trump had the Reflecting Pool renovated in the spring in an attempt to restore it before the Independence Day celebrations over the summer. However, the project was almost immediately plagued by problems. In addition to the lining coming loose and peeling off, the pool turned green with algae only days after reopening.
Trump blamed vandals for the algae as well.
On Sunday, he said the Reflecting Pool would reopen “shortly.”
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