US Politics
Trump reveals next DC renovation project to remove ‘Biden filth and incompetence’
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Donald Trump has revealed the next D.C. landmark he has in his crosshairs, claiming he wants to remove “Biden filth and incompetence” from the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
The president posted a video on social media saying he plans to “fix” the historic pool with the help of Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum.
The 30 second clip shows leaves and grime in the water, accompanied by Time to Say Goodbye by opera singer Andrea Bocelli.
The footage includes a sign warning people to stay out of the water, as well as pool cleaners scrubbing dirty, swamp-green contents.
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“This is the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool before Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and I fix it,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Study it hard because you won’t be seeing this Biden filth and incompetence much longer!”
The clip is captioned with “Make D.C. Beautiful Again.”
The Lincoln Memorial is home to the largest reflecting pool in Washington, which was finished in 1923. It has become one D.C.’s most iconic sights and the setting for historic events including Martin Luther King Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech.
An estimated 8.5 million people visited the site last year, according to the National Park Service.
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While his actual plans for the pool are not clear, in his second term Trump has not held back on making major changes to beloved icons.
Last month, he ordered bulldozers to demolish the historic White House East Wing in order to make room for a $300 million ballroom.
At the time, Trump claimed that he was fulfilling a wish that presidents had harbored for “150 years.”
His decision to tear down the part of the White House traditionally reserved for the First Lady was widely criticized, not least by Michelle Obama.
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“To denigrate it, to tear it down, to pretend like it doesn’t matter — it’s a reflection of how you think of that role,” the former First Lady said in response.
Trump has since admitted that he did not need to tear down the East Wing for his ballroom, the funding for which comes from private investors, and joked about demolishing the historic site simply because he wanted to.
“I could’ve built the ballroom around it,” Trump told Fox News on The Ingraham Angle. “I didn’t want to sacrifice a great ballroom for an okay ballroom by leaving it right smack in the middle.”
He has also announced plans to build a massive Arc de Triomphe-style arch opposite the Lincoln Memorial, as well as paving over Jackie Kennedy’s rose garden and installing golden embellishments to the Oval Office.
The Independent has contacted the White House and the Department of the Interior for comment.
