US President Donald Trump became visibly agitated and launched into rambling tangents about former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden when questioned by CBS News White House Correspondent Ed O'Keefe about alleged vandalism at the Reflecting Pool near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. The 80-year-old head of state also accused the reporter of writing "fake news" during the heated exchange.
Trump Struggles to Hear, Rambles About Comey
Trump appeared to have difficulty hearing O'Keefe's initial question: "Are the contractors who do the initial work with the reflecting pool, are they to blame for the current condition, or is it vandalism?" Trump responded, "Vandals," before veering into a critique of former FBI Director James Comey. "We put brand new beautiful grass all around. They [the vandals] put these massive letters on the grass... they said 86 47. They probably got that from the dirty cop, Comey, you know he's a dirty cop, don't you, dirty cop, he's a crooked guy. They destroyed the grass, so that's a big thing, but we're going to get it back very soon," Trump said.
Trump Accuses ABC Reporter of Tampering
The outburst followed Trump's earlier claims on his Truth Social platform that ABC reporter Jonathan Karl "had been seen sticking his hand into the Pool, and trying to rip the rubber off of the surface." Karl had reported for ABC News on Thursday that his team found the Reflecting Pool filled with gunk and green algae.
Niece Sparks Health Speculation
Mary Trump, the president's niece, ignited fresh speculation over his health, suggesting his decline is "impossible to hide." In her newsletter published on Sunday, she agreed with journalist Steven Beschloss that Trump looked "unusually diminished" at last week's G7 summit.
O'Keefe Challenges Trump on Security
During the news conference, O'Keefe pressed Trump on how vandals could have accessed the pool with National Guard employees stationed around the area. Trump became visibly agitated and paused before answering: "We didn't have a lot of them then. Who would think that somebody would go into a pool and take a knife and start cutting it?" When asked for proof, Trump insisted: "When you have a 350 foot slit from one end to the other, you think that's proof! I saw it, they cut it, they cut it very violently. The same thing with the floor, they cut it, and then they lifted it, they pulled it, and that's what it is."
Trump Loses It Over Project Costs
When O'Keefe challenged Trump about the project's cost—originally claimed to take a week and cost $1 million—Trump erupted: "Barack Hussein Obama. Have you ever heard of him? He spent two years and over $100 million on trying to fix it. You know what happened to it? Never even opened... Him and Biden together spent $147 million you know what happened? Never opened. You don't mention that, right?" Trump continued: "I spent, we spent, about 10 [million]... much of the money we spent are park workers. They're there, whether they do this or not, as you know, they work in the park, and they're very good workers. They did a great job. So they were going to spend $300 to $400 million you know that, and it was going to take four years. I spent about six, seven weeks, and I spent probably... $10 million, they say 16, but a lot of that's workers that work for the same thing, so they were going to spend $400 million, I spent 10, they were going to spend four years, I spent two months, maybe less, and I have a better product now. I can't help it if somebody goes in with a knife and starts hacking it out. You'll see it, you'll see it in court. But all you have to do is call the Parks Department, call the Department of Interior, and I don't know if their lawyers will allow you to speak to them, because you know you write fake, you write fake news," he slammed.
