Political analyst nails why the unraveling of Trump’s presidency began with a pool
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A child points to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, as cleanup continues in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 22, 2026. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper
Political commentator David Rothkopf joked during the latest episode of the Daily Beast podcast that President Donald Trump has certainly managed to bring Americans flocking to see the Reflecting Pool.
“It’s turned into a tourist attraction in downtown D.C. for people to hate on Trump, right? They come down, and they reflect on what a bad president they’ve got,” mocked Rothkopf, speaking to Joanna Coles. “And then he’s like, ‘Holy mackerel, this is a mess. What are we going to do?’”
The solution, Rothkopf said, was to invent a conspiracy theory. Thus, the story of the mysterious vandals was born. According to Trump, five people have been arrested, and there are, he believes, five more who were involved somehow in putting a 250-350-foot gash in the liner installed in the Reflecting Pool. Trump promised reporters questioning the claim that the evidence of it would come out "in court."
“I just inspected it, and could only say to myself, and those gathered around me, WOW, who would do such a thing?” the president wrote in a Truth Social post on Sunday. “SICK, DERANGED PEOPLE! We will fix it?”
It's part of the overall metaphor of Trump's so-called beautification projects in Washington.
“Who defaced the Oval Office? Who destroyed the East Wing? Who put a giant claw on the South Lawn of the White House? Who is building a gilded ballroom for billionaires to dance in while Americans starve?” Rothkopf asked. “Who is building an arch to honor himself? Who’s covering all the horse statues in Washington in gold leaf?”
“He didn’t do enough damage as the worst, most tasteless developer in America. Now he’s taken it to another scale with tack,” Rothkopf said.
So, the disaster of the Reflecting Pool is a larger "metaphor for Trump," he said.
“It’s such a symbol of his vandalism, his failure, his inability to take responsibility for anything, his turning Washington into the grimiest, slimiest swamp of all time,” Rothkopf explained.
“The reality is, Trump screws up things all the time,” he said, noting that the Reflecting Pool was “fine” before the 80-year-old president decided it needed a more than $14 million revamp.