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In the world of American politics, optics are everything.
So when a sitting president makes a big deal out of restoring a beloved landmark ahead of a major historic milestone, he knows exactly what he’s doing.
And when said overhaul goes horribly awry, said president knows that he’s about to get brutally roasted across the globe.
In case our hypotheticals were too vague, the above situation is currently unfolding in Washington, as the Trump administration scrambles to patch up the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool ahead of America’s 250th birthday on July 4.
As the deadline approaches, the Reflecting Pool situation is looking increasingly grim — and green.
The algae that the administration sought to eliminate — in order to cast the pool in a shade of patriotic blue in time for America’s big day — is still in full bloom.
Worse, blue lining that was installed in an effort to attain the desired hue is now peeling and floating to the surface, transforming the pool into a swamp-like eyesore.
That might be a result of the large quantities of hydrogen peroxide that have been poured into the pool in order to slow the growth of algae.
Whatever the case, the sudden change in the chemical makeup of the pool seems to be impacting the local flora and fauna, as Newsweek and other outlets report that a dead duck was retrieved from the water over the weekend.
Unable to ignore the situation any longer, Trump took to his Truth Social platform to … blame everything on his haters.
“What these terrible Vandals have done is a true affront to both Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and should be dealt with accordingly,” Trump wrote in his post, adding:
“They took some form of knife or blade, and put a 250 foot long gash into the beautiful facade of what took so much work, competence, and money to build and complete,” he added. “They also poured corrosive and destructive chemicals into the Pool.”
Security around the pool is now at an all-time high, and arrests were made over the weekend. One of the detainees was a retired Olympic canoeist named David Hearn.
Hearn, 67, told NBC News that he approached the pool in order “to satisfy my curiosity as a citizen of what was happening with all the algae and the peeling blue coating that I’ve been seeing in the news.”
“I didn’t remove, tear, rip, break or destroy any of it. The condition of the reflecting pool was the same after I stepped away from the water as it was before I got there,” he continued, adding:
“All of a sudden they were handcuffing me behind my back, and they hadn’t really told me what I was charged with.”
Comparisons between America in 2026 and the Roman Empire in its final years are almost cliche at this point.
And an embattled leader blaming all his problems on encroaching vandals is almost too on the nose to bother joking about. So we’ll hold off for now.
Oh, and in case you’re keeping score at home, the cost of the failed restoration is currently at $16 million — and rising.