- US President Donald Trump is doubling down on claims that the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was vandalized, telling reporters Tuesday that the Interior Department is “going to share” photo and video evidence.
- Trump was asked about the images after stating on Monday that the vandalism was caught on camera, and that the federal government would provide footage. He said six people have been arrested for damaging the pool, which filled with green algae after a $14-million-plus rehabilitation project.
- The pool’s newly redone bottom has been cracking and peeling off, a phenomenon Trump claims is the work of vandals.
- “The 350 foot gash, made by a very sharp knife or razors, is actually numerous slashes over a very long 350 foot length,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Tuesday. “It was purposefully and criminally done, and somebody had to work very hard, probably in the dark of night, to create such a condition. Likewise, the small area at the bottom of the Pool was cut and powerfully lifted off the surface leaving very jagged, uneven edges.”
- The government has yet to provide evidence that vandalism caused the pool’s condition, rather than a repair process that failed to provide the results promised by Trump.
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