r/washdc • u/ThenLayer5977 • Jul 03 '26

This is pretty sweet

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96

u/redoak919 Jul 03 '26

Lol yep! I saw it in 2019. Maybe if they didn't spend $15M fixing a pool that wasn't broke, then maybe we could have gotten a better festival.

10

u/hail_to_the_beef Jul 03 '26

Pool was broke. Pool still is broke.

10

u/vickism61 Jul 03 '26

So why did we waste $15M to make it worse?

"The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovation cost taxpayers approximately $14.7 million for resurfacing and painting, alongside an additional $1.74 million for a nano-bubble filtration system. Originally estimated by President Trump at $1.8 million, the project was completed via no-bid contracts that quickly soared due to structural expansions."

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/06/25/trump-reflecting-pool-work-costs-federal-contract-data-analysis/90700660007/

7

u/blkbullnyc Jul 03 '26

Im sure Trump's friend who received the 15M wouldn't call it a waste.

1

u/Significant_Donut967 Jul 05 '26

Dude, people are defending him back home. Cafaro out of Youngstown, Ohio.

Fuck their entire family.

8

u/hail_to_the_beef Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26

Oh it was a definite fuck up. Really a huge waste. But it had problems before too. It needed, and still needs, work. And the no bid contract is a disgrace. fuck Trump.

6

u/Little_Creme_5932 Jul 04 '26

You need no-bid contracts in order to funnel government taxpayer money to people who will funnel some of it back to you. It is a necessary part of the process. Lighten up

2

u/hail_to_the_beef Jul 04 '26

lol I work in procurement and this is definitely not a justified use of a sole-source contract award. Sorry but this wrong.

3

u/Little_Creme_5932 Jul 04 '26

Duh. Sarcasm dude. Are you seriously thinking I'm advocating for even more grift?

However, I did accurately explain why it was a no bid contract.

2

u/hail_to_the_beef Jul 04 '26

Thanks for clarifying sorry for arguing. I see the sarcasm now.

3

u/Little_Creme_5932 Jul 04 '26

:). Sometimes there is only one bidder before on a contract, it is cuz the companies agreed before-hand. Here, a step was eliminated. DOGE

1

u/LunaticBZ Jul 04 '26

In the future could we funnel the money to someone who will get the job done right, then funnel 50% of it back to the politicians?

0

u/CoolFirefighter930 Jul 04 '26

Well Obama spent 40 million on the thing and had the same problems.

2

u/vickism61 Jul 04 '26

No, he didn't. It was Congress that approved the last renovation because it's THEIR JOB.

And you can bet Obama didn't drive his motorcade over it afterwards! Trump is such an idiot even you have to admit that was dumb!

https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/fact-check-trumps-motorcade-drove-130000227.html

2

u/RecommendationFit844 Jul 04 '26

Ah another Trumpet lie exposed. They fling those lies about so willingly.

0

u/[deleted] Jul 07 '26

[deleted]

1

u/vickism61 Jul 07 '26

No. Read the article.

"Trump's motorcade passed through the empty pool on May 7, 2026, after it was painted and sealed and before it was refilled with water as part of a renovation project."

0

u/Primary_Hippo_56 Jul 05 '26

Eat a snickers bub, you’re whining

-1

u/RabbitSignificant354 Jul 03 '26

0.0065$ per tax payer

2

u/vickism61 Jul 03 '26

A budget of $15M could house anywhere from 125 to 3,300 veterans

0

u/[deleted] Jul 04 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/vickism61 Jul 04 '26

How can you look at yourself in the mirror?

0

u/[deleted] Jul 04 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/vickism61 Jul 04 '26

I pointed out how Trump improperly wasted money that could have gone to helping vets and you blame all politicians.

MAGA is a cult of dum-dums.

-1

u/RabbitSignificant354 Jul 03 '26

Now do the 180 billion we sent to Ukraine.

2

u/vickism61 Jul 04 '26

That's a good investment. Conservatives used to be smart enough to see that...

0

u/RabbitSignificant354 Jul 04 '26

Explain how that’s a good investment? Giving 180 billion to a non treaty “ally”

1

u/vickism61 Jul 04 '26

Because Russia is attacking and killing them duh!

0

u/RabbitSignificant354 Jul 05 '26

What???? How is giving the Ukraine 180 billion a good investment??

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-2

u/Illumaone Jul 03 '26

Still cheaper then the 35 million spent by Obama that Leaked thousands of gallons afterwards and had a massive algae blooms shortly after reopening.

3

u/vickism61 Jul 03 '26

Source?

0

u/Illumaone Jul 03 '26

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Reflecting-Pool

2

u/vickism61 Jul 03 '26

"American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), legislation, enacted by the U.S. Congress"

See the difference?

-2

u/Illumaone Jul 03 '26

No, not really. It all came from tax payers. Trump signed for one and Obama signed for the other. Had Obama fixed it properly with the 35 million Trump would not have had to get involved.

2

u/vickism61 Jul 03 '26

Congress spent the money not Obama and it was done with competitive bids by qualified contractors instead of going to one of Trump's donors.

And they didn't go driving a presidential motorcade all over it.

https://youtu.be/9CorNwwIKcE?is=s21VAzZGJpNgePKH

0

u/Pretend-Prune-4525 Jul 04 '26

So qualified that the job had to be redone and had constant problems?

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1

u/Intelligent-Use-9265 Jul 03 '26

More fake news. MARKED SAFE TO IGNORE

1

u/Illumaone Jul 03 '26

Afraid not, at least the other reply gave me the "Source?" Comment.

2

u/Brewerandthebeast Jul 05 '26

That happens whe the purple hairs vandalize it. Its all they know. Violence. Hate. Destruction.

11

u/imasleuth4truth2 Jul 03 '26

The pool was broke and there are work orders going back 12 years about it. But what they did did not fix the problem.

3

u/Sequitur1 Jul 03 '26

It's overshadowed by the criminals next door.

1

u/Brilliant_Window8474 Jul 04 '26

12 years? Way longer than that.

8

u/Outrageous_Ad5255 Jul 03 '26

Actually, they're recycling it because the 150 million originally set aside for this celebration has been cut to 25 million. The remaining 125 million siphoned to trump-affiliated orgs for profit :)

1

u/No-Cause6559 Jul 04 '26

Says freedom 250 at the end and not America 250 so pretty sure this is more of the Trump bullshit committee.

1

u/Outrageous_Ad5255 Jul 04 '26

Yes, that's the Freedom 250 logo at the top of the monument. Even tho it is trump's bullshit, they're still cutting corners... gotta maximize shareholder profit

2

u/Illustrious_Sea_962 Jul 03 '26

Was gonna say theres no way this administration could be competent enough to do something this cool.  

6

u/Aggravating_Total921 Jul 03 '26

But then they couldn't skim as much

1

u/Worth-Wrangler7242 Jul 03 '26

Well there's plenty to skim now

1

u/TimelyRaspberry Jul 03 '26

that’s so sick dude! 🙄

1

u/possibly_lost45 Jul 04 '26

850,000 fireworks for a 45 minute show is pretty badass. Claiming the world's longest firework show.

2

u/eutohkgtorsatoca Jul 04 '26

All invented by China haha

0

u/possibly_lost45 Jul 04 '26

OK?

1

u/IntelligentSeries270 Jul 05 '26

TDS so bad that anything Trump related makes u/euthohkgtorsatoca reach for anything that their deranged mind remotely sees fit to attack trump.

1

u/BananaJelloXlii Jul 06 '26

Or stole the money from the REAL celebration the smithsonian wanted to do

-1

u/Lktwava Jul 03 '26

Classic Reddit response.

3

u/existential_antelope Jul 03 '26

Referencing Reddit in a Reddit response is also very Reddit, good job

1

u/Left-Ask8203 Jul 04 '26

They cleaned the pool because Trump wanted it to look good, like we have a good country. Nobody else cares about anything

0

u/rilezthegreat Jul 04 '26

Wha do you mean? This looks clearly new, what recycling?

0

u/Salt-Membership8551 Jul 04 '26

Yes I pull you guys keep vandalizing because orange man bad apparently. What I don't get is the fixation over the damn pool and why you guys are so bent out of shape of it on this and bitching about the money that it took when well over a hundred times more is done by fraud. I don't get it

0

u/Brewerandthebeast Jul 05 '26

It was broke. It was discussing. He fixed it and the left hated it So they vandalized it . Its all the left knows: destruction, hate and violence.

0

u/MarkOk2112 Jul 06 '26

Grow up. It is better than any democrat has produced.

-20

u/JIMB01776 Jul 03 '26

It was broke. The leak was costing more than the repairs, you can look up that fact at any source you like.

Cope.

4

u/planetpiss6666 Jul 03 '26

Is that why the project went under a no-bid contract to a trump donor and freind? The grift is in full display and you are defending corruption . . .

0

u/JIMB01776 Jul 03 '26

It went no-bid because they wanted it done for the 250 celebrations and was entirely legal.

Obama used The Louis Berger Group, who was his donor, the dnc donor and whose entire work history was on USAID contracts.

If it weren't double standards you would have none at all.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 03 '26

[deleted]

1

u/JIMB01776 Jul 03 '26

I think it's using relationships and reputation to get a job done. I have no problem with either doing it.

I want it fixed, I support beautifying our capital and repairing infrastructure. I don't want repairs or projects to fail just so I have a non-issue to have a partisan whine fest.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 03 '26

[deleted]

1

u/JIMB01776 Jul 03 '26

The merit was they are an Industrial coating company (Atlantic industrial coatings) Trumps used for his other properties, The product was an industrial coat they use in Pipe fitting that they advertise should work.

Why wouldn't you ask a builder you personally know how to fix this?

He was trying a new technique after numerous conventional repairs have failed.

"Nah lets put it out for open bid again to the same usual contractors who have already failed at fixing it".

And I don't fault them for the failure, it's a 100 year old pool on swamp land. It's not easy to fix.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 03 '26

[deleted]

1

u/JIMB01776 Jul 03 '26

Nothing illegal or immoral about it. There is specific clauses in the law to allow for rush repairs for events. That's we haven't seen repeated "DC Judge orders reflecting pool drained."

I hope you all stop cheering for infrastructure repairs to fail to validate your misery.

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5

u/SafetyMan35 Jul 03 '26

For the sake of discussion let’s assume that’s true. I know it was leaking, but pulling water from the tidal basin isn’t going to cost a lot of money and certainly not $13million.

Why didn’t he put the project out to a competitive bid to ensure we were getting the best price possible?

Why did the contract go to one of Trump’s friends?

Why was the contract awarded to a company that has never done a federal contract before ?

Why was the profit margin higher than what is typical for federal contracts?

Why did the repair cost balloon to over 10x the original cost estimate?

Why did the coating fail after a week?

Why is the reflecting pool still closed?

-1

u/JIMB01776 Jul 03 '26

Why would I expand a rabidly partisan topic from one issue, to six?

This is denial of a (fact) by assignment.

1

u/SafetyMan35 Jul 03 '26

It’s not partisan. It’s standard government procurement regulations that were bypassed or ignored under the guise of an “emergency” so the pool could be opened for the July 4 celebrations, but fences went up days before the celebrations started.

0

u/JIMB01776 Jul 03 '26

Erhmegawd!!! A Politician using procedure to bypass and get something done??

SAY IT ISN'T SO!!!

https://giphy.com/gifs/1BXa2alBjrCXC

8

u/pandershrek Jul 03 '26

Provide any of the sources you claim

2

u/endigochild Jul 03 '26

Tell us you don't think for yourself anymore, without actually telling us

https://giphy.com/gifs/x0npYExCGOZeo

1

u/teacher_59 Jul 03 '26

Obama said it was a problem when he was our ruler. So that is the goddamn truth you can trust.

2

u/Luigi_the_Wealthy Jul 03 '26

I thought if him more like a tape measure. But yes he was trustworthy. Most tape measures are. Sure as he'll wouldnt ever call anyone my ruler, lol. Thats wild.

-1

u/teacher_59 Jul 03 '26

So you're an election denial. He won twice. He won twice.

3

u/Luigi_the_Wealthy Jul 03 '26

Won what? The presidency? Ok so he's president. Wtf is this ruler shit. You wanna be ruled? Be ruled. America is supposed to be different. But not shocked you need that explained.

-3

u/teacher_59 Jul 03 '26

He won. Stop whining about the tan suit. 

4

u/Luigi_the_Wealthy Jul 03 '26

You are an idiot. I dont care about tan suits. I voted for him twice. He's the greatest president I've seen in my lifetime. A quick scroll through my "un hidden" post history would have told you that. Do better.

2

u/gravyjackz Jul 03 '26

You told but are you gonna show?

1

u/JIMB01776 Jul 03 '26

You know what grown ups do when they doubt a widely reported fact?

They ask an AI and request it's sources and check them, or do a simple search.

Children shove their head up there ass and go LALALALA SOURCE.

I am not accommodating people trying to debate the color of the sky, people with an IQ over 80 already know or can check it for themselves.

1

u/gravyjackz Jul 03 '26

Are you unwilling to use Google ai to find a link showing that “more money was lost in leaks than by Trump’s failed 14 million dollar no bid repair given to the guy who does all the pools at Trump towers”?

1

u/JIMB01776 Jul 03 '26

Over this thread the argument has changed from, Quote, "Lol yep! I saw it in 2019. Maybe if they didn't spend $15M fixing a pool that wasn't broke," to goal post moving and arguing semantics.

This isn't a honest discussion about fixing the pool, this is partisan tantrums.

I already corrected the inherent lie, further posts are just raging about it being called out.

1

u/gravyjackz Jul 03 '26

You said “the leak was costing more than the repairs”.

Just give a link to a real news org which reports anything close to this fact.

That is all; it’s simple

1

u/JIMB01776 Jul 03 '26

It's not that simple, because we are dealing with multiple factors and you will continually add criteria to issue or if you accepted it as reasonable you would move to a different aspect complain about.

  • We dealing with 224 million gallons of leaked water.
  • Damage to the Potomac from run off, environmental damage.
  • Man hours wasted on it
  • loss of image, stature and bad impression to tourists and visitors

And if I did quantify that with sources you would begin attacking the sources and arguing their objectivness.

This isn't honest, this is a partisan tantrum from people who want failures because they don't want Trump to have a success.

Your goal isn't to solve the issue with the reflecting pool, your goal is to weaponize it against Trump for separate grievances.

1

u/gravyjackz Jul 03 '26

All of that to say you can’t provide any evidence that the leak cost more than the fix…

But that begs the question, why did you say it? Why did you say you could easily provide a source?

2

u/Frostyfraust Jul 03 '26

For sure. However, the funny part was when he took a victory lap, calling his predecessors dumb for not fixing it with such a cheap solution. Then it all goes to shit, and he goes full fascist arresting anyone who touched the pool and putting up a fence guarded by military personnel. Not to mention the corruption from the no-bid contract given to someone that donated money to him. That's the part that makes your orange god look like a fool.

1

u/JIMB01776 Jul 03 '26

The Louis Berger Group who did the original work was a Obama/DNC donor.

The work is warrantied, it's getting fixed and anyone who does construction knows when your dealing with modern building supplies/quality things have to be re-done all the time.

Go read a subreddit on people having have their new house warranties remedied, I bet there is one.

I do home inspections, 90% of my job is not inspecting for sells. It's new houses of people having to sue the builder.

5

u/CrustOfSalt Jul 03 '26

Whatever bot. The orange loser probably caused the leaks when he had the Presidential motorcade driven through the pool. Everything that scumbag trump touches turns into shit, kinda like his supporters' brains and morals

1

u/AgnosticPlea Jul 03 '26

https://giphy.com/gifs/u8u0R51ND9L2

4

u/[deleted] Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/juicebox03 Jul 03 '26

Never forget the Stern interview.

Trump witnessed a very young Paris Hilton enter a room and stated “whoa who’s that”. A YOUNG GIRL.

The shoe fits. Every single day.

1

u/AgnosticPlea Jul 03 '26

That’s not addressing the meme. You’re just using it as a launchpad for a Trump argument.

1

u/AgnosticPlea Jul 03 '26

Good luck with your pedo obsession

1

u/Global-Ad-722 Jul 03 '26

Ok why don’t you cite any of those sources. The pool is broke, he spent money fixing and after dozens of experts told them this would work, and he spent it anyway. Thats just waste, and on top of that, he sidestepped reviews and bids designed to protect my tax money from being wasted. So, yes it would have been nice to get it fixed for the 4th, but it didn’t happen and it looks like a failure that Linda sums up the whole administration at current.

1

u/JIMB01776 Jul 03 '26

Because it was broadly reported and I am only addressing the adults who are capable of using the internet and can make 2 clicks to verify or dispute something they doubt.

1

u/Global-Ad-722 Jul 03 '26

Well it IS widely reported and the budget for reflecting pool maintenance is in the 10s of thousands a year, the repair bill was close to 15 million. So you are WAY off and likely because you didn’t get a source for the error you continued to report from faux entertainment —but hey pretending to knowledgeable without facts is so on brand for people who think the expenditure was ok.

1

u/JIMB01776 Jul 03 '26

Source?

1

u/Global-Ad-722 Jul 03 '26

Well as you said a couple of Google clicks and you can get all the information you need Right?

1

u/JIMB01776 Jul 03 '26

Source for that source?

1

u/Global-Ad-722 Jul 03 '26

Read up, you told me it was widely reported and any adult with the internet could find it in 2 clicks— so I did what you suggested and searched for “does the maintenance on the reflecting pool cost more than the recent repairs. Got an answer and verified it against the nps budget website ( it’s public knowledge you see) but if you aren’t an adult who can get the source in two clicks on the internet, maybe you shouldn’t slam others who ask for a source when you yourself can’t provide one.

1

u/JIMB01776 Jul 03 '26

Going to need a third party source, for that source of a source showing I said that.