I literally just finished writing about a stupid and obnoxious article at the Washington Post and I was ready to move on to something else today. Unfortunately, the first thing I came across was this stupid and obnoxious tweet by the Washington Post. Here it is.
The Reflecting Pool on the National Mall has been refilled following President Trump’s renovations.
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) June 9, 2026
The project ultimately took six weeks and cost more than $10 million, far more than Trump initially projected. https://t.co/no9QuP1lmu pic.twitter.com/jBPKbqtWIy
I have so many complaints about this I'm not sure where to start. Let's just start with this. The link in this tweet takes you to a story from last Thursday about the reflecting pool being refilled. In other words, there's no current story behind this tweet. They just wanted to get this comparison out there to dunk on Trump's efforts.
But there are several problems with their attempt. First of all, if you really look at the two photos, they aren't the same at all. Many people pointed this out. Look at that reflection of the Lincoln Memorial:
You can now see the sky and the actual buildings in the reflection. I guess it looks "almost the same" if you're incredibly unobservant and/or blinded by Partisan Brain. pic.twitter.com/tgESJUDxsc
— Dr. N.R. Luke (@_LukeCSkywalker) June 9, 2026
"...looks almost the same..."
— Kel Varnson (@kelvarnson) June 9, 2026
You're not an actual news organization. pic.twitter.com/b7G1lv9lST
It does look a bit different, but the bigger problem is that the 2022 photo doesn't seem to represent what the pool looked like a few months ago before this renovation began. Why is the before picture four years old? Possibly because the Post didn't want to show the actual comparison:
Actually, the most recent satellite imagery from Google Earth shows it was toxic algae green before the upgrade. pic.twitter.com/9Peitpn93P
— OceansAndLands (@OceansAndLands) June 9, 2026
It's pretty green.
Yeah it was as green as the grass. This is on Google Maps. pic.twitter.com/eMSZ4Ki5EZ
— Jose Espresso 🐯 (@EspressoJose) June 9, 2026
Other people responded with personal photos where it looked muddy and brown.
Here’s my photo of the swampy, murky reflecting pool a year ago. I’d say Trump’s renovations are a BIG improvement. pic.twitter.com/izSADoHcFk
— Kristen Mag (@kristenmag) June 9, 2026
This photo is from August 2024:
What an absolutely pathetic petty statement. https://t.co/5ZztfHufSK pic.twitter.com/XdOGXEwh8H
— the truth is hard (@truthishard__) June 9, 2026
Unfortunately for the Washington Post, a site called EarthCam posted a video of the entire restoration as seen from the top of the Washington Monument. You can see below in a still comparison that the pool was very green prior to the work back in March and is very deep blue now.
Months of work, condensed into seconds. Watch the transformation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool as crews drained, repainted, and refilled one of America's most iconic landmarks ahead of a busy summer season in Washington, D.C. pic.twitter.com/HBoJUx6n0t
— EarthCam (@EarthCam) June 9, 2026
Those images are from the live camera at the top of the Washington monument. Here's the before and after shot with the renovated reflecting pool on top.
Quite a difference. I wonder why the Post is showing us this instead?
The Reflecting Pool on the National Mall has been refilled following President Trump’s renovations.
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) June 9, 2026
The project ultimately took six weeks and cost more than $10 million, far more than Trump initially projected. https://t.co/no9QuP1lmu pic.twitter.com/jBPKbqtWIy
Could it be another example of resistance journalism or are they just bad at their jobs. Take your pick.
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