July 24, 2026

Before he has fixed the damage he caused to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, his crew has already damaged another national monument. In this case, it’s the German-American Friendship Garden on the National Mall.

“The damage occurred after a contractor vehicle drove over the center of the fountain after protective barriers surrounding the feature had been moved. The incident cracked the fountain in several places, and repairs are now underway,” Newsweek said it was told. It describes the fountain as “one of the most prominent yet lesser-known sites on the National Mall.”

Trump’s botched renovations of the Reflecting Pool have “already cost taxpayers more than $16 million and it is still drained and surrounded by chain-link fences, The New Republic noted.

TNR also pointed out that Trump’s $69 million renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Undercroft has led to unsafe conditions for the display of historical documents.

How much will this latest Trump screwup cost us?

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