President Donald Trump tore into The New York Times in a wild 400-word overnight rant after the newspaper reported the real cost of his Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool makeover was far higher than he first claimed.

The president unloaded in a Truth Social screed shortly after 1 a.m. on Tuesday morning, raging over reporting that the Interior Department plans to pay a contractor $13.1 million for the project, far above the $1.8 million figure Trump publicly floated while unveiling the plan last month.

Federal records cited by The Times show the Interior Department increased the contract by $6.2 million beyond the original estimate, bringing the project total to roughly $8 million before additional costs are factored in, and revealed that the administration awarded the no-bid contract to Atlantic Industrial Coatings, a firm that had reportedly renovated pools at Trump’s Virginia golf club in the past.

The renovation includes repairing leaks in the iconic Reflecting Pool, located beneath the Lincoln Memorial, and repainting parts of the structure “American flag blue.”

Taking to Truth Social, Trump appeared incandescent over allegations of the ballooning price tag, insisting The Times was “trying to justify [Barack] Obama and [Joe] Biden’s expensively botched attempt at fixing the long broken, unsightly, and unsanitary” pool.

“They squandered at least 55 Million Dollars haplessly trying, with no chance of success, to get the Reflecting Pool to work,” he wrote. “Instead, they made it worse, keeping it closed for years, and ending up with a leaking, smelling, ode to both of their failed Administrations. It was and [sic] embarrassment to Washington, D.C., and to our Country, itself. Despite the vast sums of money spent, they never got the pool to work, and cosmetically it was a total mess for all to see.”

Trump continued to cast himself as the lone figure capable of rescuing the project from bureaucratic incompetence: “Now, along comes “TRUMP,” who is asked by many patriots if I can fix it. The answer is a resounding, YES, and for a “tiny” fraction of the cost!”

The president said that he instructed the Department of the Interior to contract the work as if repairing a “highly sophisticated swimming pool” for a fraction of the price and to complete it “in 2 weeks rather than 4 years.”

Trump then rounded on one of the Times journalists who wrote the report, David Fahrenthold, branding him a “lowlife” who, he said, “so inaccurately and maliciously” characterized the work as a “paint job.”

“ It is a deeply complicated work of smart and beautiful construction,” Trump countered. “It won’t leak, it will shine, and be the pride of Washington D.C. for decades to come. I saved more than 390 Million Dollars, and 4 years of no “mess,” and was, of course, given no credit by the biased New York Times.”

Nonetheless, the president, despite his bluster, ended his lengthy post with a disclaimer: “Also, I didn’t give out the contract, ‘Interior’ did, to a contractor I did not know, and have never used before.”

Read the post in full below:

The Failing New York Times, which is one of the worst newspapers anywhere in the World, and is losing subscribers on an hourly basis, is now at it again. Just like they covered my Landslide 2024 Presidential Election Victory inaccurately, and without shame, constantly making major mistakes and incorrect predictions at every path along the way, they are now trying to justify Obama and Biden’s expensively botched attempt at fixing the long broken, unsightly, and unsanitary Reflecting Pool that NOW sits majesticly between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. They squandered at least 55 Million Dollars haplessly trying, with no chance of success, to get the Reflecting Pool to work. Instead, they made it worse, keeping it closed for years, and ending up with a leaking, smelling, ode to both of their failed Administrations. It was and embarrassment to Washington, D.C., and to our Country, itself. Despite the vast sums of money spent, they never got the pool to work, and cosmetically it was a total mess for all to see. Now, along comes “TRUMP,” who is asked by many patriots if I can fix it. The answer is a resounding, YES, and for a “tiny” fraction of the cost! I worked with our now strong Department of the Interior and explained to them that we should view this as a highly sophisticated swimming pool, not the leaking, dilapidated facade, joints and all, of a building. Instead of taking 4 years to build, at a cost, granite pavers and all, of 400 Million Dollars, we could construct a far superior Reflecting Pool for 5 or 6 Million Dollars, and could complete the project in 2 weeks rather than 4 years. What a difference in time and money, and for a far superior end result! This is not just a paint job, like lowlife “reporter,” David Fahrenthold, of the NYT so inaccurately and maliciously stated, it is a deeply complicated work of smart and beautiful construction. It won’t leak, it will shine, and be the pride of Washington D.C. for decades to come. I saved more than 390 Million Dollars, and 4 years of no “mess,” and was, of course, given no credit by the biased New York Times. Also, I didn’t give out the contract, “Interior” did, to a contractor I did not know, and have never used before. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DJT

—

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!