Trump Crazedly Pushes Reflecting Pool Claim His DOJ Already Debunked

President Donald Trump admits he lied about having proof of alleged vandalism at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool while still refusing to drop his claims. 

In a post on Truth Social Sunday evening, Trump claimed that a National Park Service career employee, “a highly credible witness,” watched former U.S. Olympian David Hearn “‘violently’ ripping and tugging at the Pool’s somewhat delicate coating.”

“There was substantial other damage to the Reflecting Pool, also but, unfortunately, there is no video or proof, other than the damage, itself,” Trump wrote.

“Security cameras have been, and are being, installed,” he added.

Trump included an excerpt from the government’s initial criminal complaint—a claim that was walked back in a later filing. The government admitted that its witness “could not identify any additional cost caused by Mr. Hearn’s alleged conduct. Indeed, the witness did not even say or suggest that the alleged conduct had compromised the liner at all.”

A week ago, Trump claimed during a press conference that the government possessed photographic and video evidence proving that multiple individuals had vandalized the Reflecting Pool. Shortly after, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro hauled a crate of evidence to the Oval Office in order to explain to the president why that wasn’t actually true. The Department of Justice had previously been forced to admit that damage to the Reflecting Pool was caused by the contractor’s “flawed” installation of the pool lining, not vandals. 

Still, the next day, the president ranted to the press about a supposed “tape,” and one or two witnesses who could confirm his narrative.  

Trump’s latest post indicates that some of the truth may have gotten through to him—but it was too little, too late. A judge officially tossed the felony charges against Hearn on Thursday. 

This week, Representative Jamie Raskin—the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee—will formally demand that the Justice and Interior Departments turn over a wealth of documents related to the charging decisions made in this case.

President Donald Trump may be willing to end the Iran war without a nuclear deal. 

The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that the president floated declaring victory in the war if Iran reopened the Strait of Hormuz without a deal on the country’s nuclear program. But that seems increasingly unlikely with Iran now demanding that U.S. soldiers leave the area, as well as an end to the American blockade and billions of dollars in payment. 

Trump has repeatedly threatened to escalate the war with more intense bombing of Iranian targets, but he hasn’t followed through, claiming that a deal is imminent. In reality, the America’s allies in the Middle East urged Trump not to ramp up bombing, and U.S. commanders have told him that missile and bomb stockpiles have dwindled. 

Iran’s stronger conditions for a deal signal it is digging in and willing to wait out Trump for a more favorable agreement, knowing that he has few options. Iran has proven that throttling maritime traffic through the strait is an effective way to secure leverage, causing gas prices to skyrocket worldwide and badly hurting the global economy. 

The longer the war drags on, causing the U.S. economy to suffer in the process, the worse it looks for the president and the Republican Party ahead of November’s midterm elections. Trump is desperate to end the war, but has backed himself into a corner by repeatedly pushing the talking point that he will never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.

One White House official told the Journal that the U.S. has completed all of its military objectives against Iran, and that Trump is only focused now on the free flow of oil through the strait. Trump himself told Axios on Sunday that he is “low-keying it” when it comes to negotiating with Iran. 

“We are only semi-negotiating with them,” Trump said. “We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money.”

“It will work out. It always works out. It’s like a chess game.”

That seems to indicate that the president is willing to swallow a deal that doesn’t mention Iran’s nuclear program, no matter how bad it makes him look.  

President Donald Trump is reviving his campaign to oust Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.

In a letter signed by White House deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino, the White House informed Cook Wednesday that it was once again “considering” removing her from her position. The letter demanded Cook respond to the baseless allegations that she committed mortgage fraud within 21 days.

The Supreme Court ruled in June that Trump could not fire Cook, finding that the government had not afforded her the protections she was entitled to by statute, and as a result temporarily preserving the Federal Reserve’s independence.

Last August, Trump declared that he was booting Cook—the first Black woman on the Federal Reserve board—over claims she committed mortgage fraud by having two primary residences. Cook refused to step down and sued, stating that “President Trump purported to fire me ‘for cause’ when no cause exists under the law, and he has no authority to do so.”

Following the Supreme Court ruling, the case was set to be sent back to a lower court. The higher court declined to weigh in on Cook’s allegations, and did not lay out clear criteria for Trump to fire Cook.

In a statement, Cook’s lawyers stated that the allegations of mortgage fraud were “as baseless now as they were a year ago.”

Meanwhile, Trump’s own mortgage agreements appear to match the same criteria his Department of Justice has used to go after many of the president’s enemies.

The focus of the GOP’s first ever midterm convention in September won’t be Trump’s dismal approval rating, how to end the war on Iran, or the stagnant economy. They will be spending their time, resources, and funds focusing on democratic socialism.

Axios reported Friday that the GOP has spent months pulling together an “endless” video trove of attack ads targeted at progressive commentators like Hasan Piker, and Democratic Senate nominees Abdul El-Sayed and James Talarico.  

This seems like it’ll be quite the spectacle. The convention ends on September 10—the one year anniversary of Charlie Kirk’s death—and will feature speeches from Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The convention plans to emphasize Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s MAHA movement and Vance’s anti-fraud task force, neither of which are particularly compelling. Trump is also expected to be in attendance. 

This is all occurring while the vast majority of Americans disapprove of Trump’s performance, and blame him directly for their economic woes—all while he drives gas prices up higher as he drags his war on Iran on longer and longer. This event will almost certainly be an endless blooper reel of Republicans calling on the spirit of McCarthyism to try and convince Americans that it’s bad to want more affordability and less deadly bombs to Israel.  

“While everyday Americans struggle to pay their bills, fill up their tanks, or put food on the table, Republicans are hosting a multimillion-dollar celebration to satisfy Donald Trump’s massive ego and tie vulnerable Republican candidates closer to his failed agenda,” DNC spokesperson Kendall Witmer said to Axios.

While the GOP itself is leading the charge against democratic socialism, Democrats are leaving it up to their PACs, as the dark money centrist thinktank Third Way just committed $15 million towards punching to their left on Thursday.

Amazon is quietly trying to build the biggest gas power plant in the country. 

The Distilled newsletter reported Friday that the megacorporation has bought land and acquired permits in Pecos County, Texas, for an AI data center powered by a 7.65 gigawatt gas power plant. The plant will be completely separate from Texas’s power grid, at least in the beginning, the permits show.  

The site, known as GW Ranch, got a state permit allowing the proposed power plant to emit 33 million tons of carbon dioxide, which would make it the biggest pollution site in the U.S., emitting more than the country’s biggest coal power plant, according to Distilled. That’s in sharp contrast to Amazon’s commitment to reach net-zero emissions by 2040 as part of The Climate Pledge.

Amazon filed three construction permits with the state of Texas this week to build three data center buildings immediately upon approval. Land clearing has already begun, according to satellite imagery. Amazon would join Microsoft, Google, and Meta in having its own off-grid gas power. 

Amazon says that it has 10 gigawatts of carbon-free energy across 40 projects to power its existing data center operations in Texas, and that the GW Ranch will use brackish groundwater that isn’t potable and thus can’t be used for irrigation or drinking. 

But that’s not likely to quell public opposition. Data centers are hugely unpopular across the country among Republicans and Democrats, both in rural and suburban areas. The centers don’t create many jobs or boost local economies. If connected to local power grids, they can drive utility rates up and cause black- and brownouts. Amid climate change and droughts, the claim that data centers will take advantage of unusable water will likely invite skepticism. 

The fact that Amazon is building its own power plant for the project will be a small comfort for residents worried about utility rates, but locals still will have concerns about pollution from a gas plant bigger than any other in the U.S. Rural Texas is deeply Republican, and despite President Donald Trump’s delusions about data centers’ popularity, opposition to them on the right is growing. Now that this project is public, a big backlash could soon follow.