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Just dropped · Trial Balloon · Ep. 192

November Surprises

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Trial Balloon · Ep. 192: November Surprises

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A Perfect Reflection of Trump’s Washington

June 19, 2026 · 7:38 am ET · Leave a Comment

The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has become an almost too-perfect metaphor for Donald Trump’s presidency.

He promised a quick, cheap fix.

Instead, taxpayers got a no-bid project that ballooned to more than $14 million, delivered a freshly painted pool in “American Flag Blue,” and then promptly watched it turn green with algae as the new coating began to peel just days after it was supposedly finished.

That is Trumpism in miniature: a grand declaration, a flashy cosmetic overhaul, a politically connected contractor, and an immediate failure blamed on someone else.

Washington was supposed to be made beautiful again.

Instead, the Reflecting Pool now looks like a murky swamp — a fitting reflection of a capital overwhelmed by corruption and chaos.

As one reader recently commented: “Reflecting indeed.”

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Taegan Goddard

Taegan Goddard

Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.

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