A renovation project meant to showcase President Donald Trump’s vision for the nation’s 250th birthday has instead become a flashpoint for legal battles, vandalism claims and an escalating war with the press. On the evening of June 22, Trump unleashed a furious Truth Social tirade in which he announced his team was preparing to sue ABC News over what he called false and incomplete coverage of alleged vandalism at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, a project that has become one of the most embattled vanity efforts of his second term.
The president’s grievance centered on his assertion that the network had ignored the spending records of his Democratic predecessors while scrutinizing his own $16 million renovation. Trump claimed former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden spent more than $100 million combined on the pool and left it broken. The actual record tells a different story: President Obama oversaw a renovation costing approximately $34 million, and President Biden undertook no major work on the structure.
Vandalism Allegations Lack Proof
Trump has maintained that vandals cut a 350-foot slit in the pool floor and added illegal chemicals to the water. He has offered no evidence to back up either allegation. The Interior Department confirmed that five people were arrested and five others received federal citations, and an agency spokesperson noted that 14 police reports had been filed in connection with vandalism at the site but stopped short of corroborating the specific damage Trump described.
Trump argued that previous administrations contemplated spending between $300 and $400 million on the site but allowed it to deteriorate instead. “In fact, it was rarely open due to leaks and ‘stench,'” Trump wrote, adding that officials “wanted to spend 300 to 400 Million Dollars, but just let it ROT.” He insisted his own investment had delivered excellent results, apart from what he described as deliberate sabotage by outside actors.
Settlement Money and Presidential Libraries
Trump closed his post by announcing that his legal team was preparing to take ABC News to court and that any resulting settlement would flow directly into the U.S. Treasury. “I like their money, which will be given to the U.S. Treasury!” he added. That assertion does not square with the facts. In reality, the funds from that earlier settlement — $15 million plus $1 million in legal fees — went not to the Treasury but to Trump’s presidential library fund. The threat carries a certain irony: ABC News was the defendant in that suit, which Trump brought against the network and ABC anchor and “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos over comments Stephanopoulos made on air regarding writer E. Jean Carroll. The case never reached a jury.
Trump has also moved against other major outlets during his second term. The Wall Street Journal, the BBC and The New York Times have all faced lawsuits from the president within the past year. In April, Trump singled out ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl over Karl’s book, “Retribution: Donald Trump and the Campaign That Changed America,” using the occasion to relitigate the Stephanopoulos settlement once more.
Blue Paint, Green Water and Dead Ducklings
The reflecting pool controversy has dogged Trump for weeks. His administration launched a project to repaint the pool a shade officially described as “American Flag Blue” in preparation for the nation’s 250th anniversary celebration on July 4. Trump said the project cost around $16 million and grew to include surrounding areas and sidewalks. The work is part of a larger renovation plan that includes the White House East Wing and a proposed triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery. Almost immediately, problems emerged: algae turned the water green, paint peeled from the floor, and federal employees poured hydrogen peroxide into the pool to combat the algae. A dead duckling found in the water brought further negative attention.
The renovation has also attracted legal opposition. The Cultural Landscape Foundation filed suit in D.C. federal court on May 11, seeking to halt the work because the reflecting pool is listed in the federal historic register as part of the larger National Mall district. The organization argued that the Trump administration was legally required to complete a public consultation process under the National Historic Preservation Act before altering the site. According to the foundation, ongoing resurfacing work threatens the pool’s historic integrity. The Interior Department did not address the question of whether any such approval had been sought.
The Woman in the Pink Frog Suit
Earlier on June 22, before unleashing his ABC News broadside, Trump had also aimed at a demonstrator he spotted near the pool — a woman dressed in a pink inflatable frog costume carrying a sign that riffed on a famous anti-Nazi poem by German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller. Trump described the protester as a “crazy pro-algae (likely paid) protester.” Nadine Otego Seiler, the activist in the costume, left her job to protest Trump’s policies full-time. In November 2025, she told The New York Times she viewed herself as Trump’s chief antagonist and used the frog costume to amplify her activism. Whether frog suits or federal lawsuits, Trump showed on June 22 he remains eager to fight on every front — even when the facts aren’t entirely on his side.
