President Donald Trump inaccurately attributed recent issues with the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to former President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, citing inflated cost figures. When pressed by a reporter about discrepancies in renovation timelines and costs, Trump stated that Obama had spent "over $100 million" and that "him and Biden together spent $147 million" on repairs that allegedly "never opened."
An analysis by The Associated Press found no basis for these claims. The Obama administration completed a two-year renovation of the Reflecting Pool in 2012, which cost approximately $34 million. The Biden administration was not involved in any major work on the pool.
Trump's comments came after questions arose regarding the peeling paint and algae formation on the Reflecting Pool just weeks after it was refilled. Critics online questioned Trump's decision to blame Obama for the current problems, with one commenter noting, "When blaming Biden isn’t working, go back and blame the guy before him."