A 9/11 anniversary fight

Trump reposted an Interior Department attack on The New York Times on Truth Social, accusing the paper of picking over the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on the 25th anniversary of the attacks.

“time and resources analyzing the Reflecting Pool”

The paper blamed the builders

The Times cited contractor documents saying the pool fell apart because of design and construction errors during Trump's renovation, not because anyone attacked it.

Two chemicals that hated each other

Contractor Atlantic Industrial Coatings found thin primer and incompatible liner layers. The top chemical ran hotter than the layer beneath could take, so the bottom blistered and let go.

“human oversight”

The case that collapsed

Federal prosecutors charged Olympic canoeist David Hearn with a felony over the torn liner, then dropped it after admitting the renovation work itself was flawed.

He said it was already peeling

Hearn, a three-time Olympian, said he stopped on a bike ride, saw loose liner and handled a piece. The charge carried up to 10 years.

Green water and a growing gash

Trump declared the job done on June 6. By June 14 the water was green, by June 18 the coating was peeling, and his description of the tear grew from 250 feet to 350.

“350 ft slip in the form of lots of little slips”

Interior counts the damage

The department says there were 342 feet of razor slashes, "8647" spray-painted across the pool in black, and matching chemical burns on the grass nearby.

“violently ripped and tugged at a large section of the blue pool coating”