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LetMyPeopleVote

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2. MaddowBlog-Trump keeps changing his story about the alleged 'gash' in the Reflecting Pool
Tue Jul 14, 2026, 07:02 PM
21 hrs ago

When administration officials can’t keep their story straight about dubious details, it’s a big hint that they’re probably making stuff up.

Trump said the “gash” in the Reflecting Pool was 250 feet. Then 300 feet. Then 350 feet. Now we’re supposed to believe it’s 900 feet.

When these guys can’t keep their story straight about their own imaginary details, it’s a big hint that they’re making stuff up.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-07-14T21:30:51.305Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/reflecting-pool-gash-length-donald-trump

It’s been tough to keep up with the precise number of instances in which the Reflecting Pool has been drained lately, but as this week got underway, Donald Trump used his social media platform to announce the latest in a series of such efforts.

There was one element of the president’s statement, however, that stood out for me:

We drained the beautiful “Reflecting Pool” today in order to fix the scars and damage that was done by the Vandals two weeks ago. We wanted to wait until after the July 4th Weekend. The slashes were 300 yards long, and the floor of the pool was cut and then pulled upward, with great force, by these thugs. The Parks Department had to empty the water in order to fix the water tight basin. It will be refilled and put back into service soon. These Country hating sleazebags should pay a big price for the damage done. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!


....What caught my attention was the Republican’s claim that there are “slashes” in the pool’s surface that are “300 yards long.

Though Trump recently boasted that the bottom of the pool would be impervious to damage from blades, he said a few weeks ago that unidentified criminals were responsible for a 250-foot gash. Two days later, he said it was 300 feet, and soon after, it was 350 feet.

Early last week, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told ABC News there wasn’t a single 350-foot gash but rather “multiple gashes” that added up to 350 feet.

Eight days later, however, the president decided to increase the size of the alleged gash once again: Now, evidently, we’re supposed to believe it’s 900 feet.

NBC News reported Monday afternoon that it sent a reporter to the Reflecting Pool, who “found no evidence that matches up with Trump’s claims of a 350-foot gash, a 290-foot gash or even a 250-foot gash.”....

Maybe because the administration keeps changing its story, with details that appear to have been concocted out of whole cloth?

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