By Angela Diana, Alliance Intern from Cornell University ‘28
Sadly, you can’t see your own face in the algae-filled waters of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool right now, but it does hold a clear mirror to the President’s and federal government’s failure to honestly communicate with the American people.
While Trump doubles down on his dishonest and misleading statements about the renovation of the Reflecting Pool, many Americans are losing even more trust about our government. The Trump administration’s inability to tell the truth about what should have been a routine renovation is just one glaring reason why his poll numbers have slumped to new low.
It reveals deeper issues within his approach to governance, showing an inability to solve larger current issues, such as the Iran War and the burgeoning climate crisis. It can also serve as an important lesson on what NOT to do when trying to build trust to enact badly-needed changes in the world. By telling the truth, we CAN co-create a world of sustainability, health, equity and kindness.
The Façade of Perfection and Glaring Lies Meant to Deceive
The Reflecting Pool is a potent metaphor for the remaking of America with a façade of perfection – usually gold, but in this case blue. This is part of a larger plan to imprint Trump’s name and likeness on anything and everything for his legacy.
Trump seeks to deflect and deceive as opposed to addressing the real world challenges most Americans face every day – just paying their bills, having health insurance and enough food to eat.
The story of the pool reflects a microcosm of the much larger issues about trust in government. As part of his plan to celebrate the 250th Anniversary of our country, Trump sought to rush renovations to the “dirty, disgusting” Reflecting Pool before the Fourth of July. He wanted to repaint it “American flag blue.” Consequently, he gave a no-bid contract to a home pool installer who was a donor with no experience with such a project.
Problems immediately arose when the work was finished, including a massive green algae bloom and huge tears in the pool coating itself. Ironically, one might struggle with the word “tears” because it could refer to crying “tears” about the state of our country.
With no evidence, the President claimed this damage was due to vandalism by left-wing activists. According to PBS News, he “has blamed people of vandalizing the Reflecting Pool by using a ‘box cutter or a knife’ to make a 300-foot slit on the bottom of the pool and dumping ‘fertilizer in the water’ to produce algae.” On June 23, six people were charged.
Since then, witnesses have come forward, but none saw the alleged vandals with knives, weapons, or huge bags of fertilizer. There is still no photographic or video evidence of any act.
Trump’s long-time loyalist, former Fox News anchor, and pick for US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro was tasked with prosecuting these alleged vandals. However, she recently dropped all the cases after reviewing the facts. She decided there simply wasn’t evidence to prosecute.
President Trump was furious with Pirro and publicly berated her, threatening her removal. Ultimately, he conceded on Truth Social that there was “some contractor error” during the process. However, he notably did not take back his accusations towards the vandals, even after Ms. Pirro did.
The Reflecting Pool Isn’t an Isolated Incident – There’s a Pattern
There is a trend within the administration. As an experienced Twitter and Truth Social user, Trump continually uses social media to say things that are provably wrong. Even in reference to the renovation itself, he has posted inaccurate cost estimates.
In the past, presidents used communication with the public in a way that played a positive role in helping to guide and bring them together, even though at times the President was intentionally lying or misleading. One famous example is President Roosevelt and his fireside chats. “They eventually became a source of hope and security for all Americans. The chats were influential in reformulating the American worldview from one of despair to one of hope during a time of multiple crises,” says Britannica.
But is that how we feel now? Increasingly, we’re feeling a lack of trust in our leaders, who too often seek to divide us. It’s pretty much impossible to make any headway against greater threats like climate change, pollution and the rapid depletion of natural resources unless we create some kind of consensus.
Public trust in the presidency and the government as a whole is being eroded by Trump’s firehose of daily lies, intentional miscommunication and over-focus on completely insignificant things – from the paving over of Jackie Kennedy’s Rose Garden and the Reflecting Pool renovations to his Ballroom, Triumphal Arch and attempt at renaming of the Kennedy Center.
He clearly seeks to mislead the public by claiming everything is the best ever while lying about truly consequential things like the Strait of Hormuz, which he constantly claims is open. How can we have trust and any sense of unity as a nation amidst false statements about the dangers of wind turbines, wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, and serious domestic and global challenges?
Disturbing Actions Add Fuel to the Fire of Lies
On top of the lies are a barrage of deeply troubling actions on everything from DEI and renewable energy to targeted legal prosecutions of any opponent and fundamental changes to science-based health policy and funding.
For example, during the president’s first term, he eliminated the pandemic warning service in 2018 — barely one year before the COVID pandemic began. More recently, Trump’s head of the CDC stopped monitoring several parasites and viruses including cyclospora, which is rapidly becoming a public health crisis. Decisions like these are not based on common sense, much less science.
This does not bode well for our future. There is no good outcome from starting a war in the Middle East, particularly with only optimistic assumptions and no plan for military support from other countries. Instead, Trump is focusing on DC construction projects to cement his legacy, while dragging us into a seemingly unresolvable war with Iran.
The result is that gas, grocery and other consumer prices are spiking from the war and tariffs. At the same time, our American servicemembers are exposed to deadly attacks, and our weapon stockpiles are dangerously depleted, as China focuses on attacking Taiwan.
America is not its landmarks or its fancy houses. It is its people, and extraordinary land and ecosystems. It is these that are experiencing the brunt of Trump’s policies and dishonesty. Too many are suffering from poverty and desperately need the social services the government could provide with this money. And our environment is threatened as never before.
Two-thirds of Americans are unhappy with the renovations and he is equally under water with his popularity and failure to address affordability, which he had campaigned on (a term he now claims is made up). Again, instead of listening to the voters who want him to stop and start focusing on what really matters, he seeks scapegoats whenever possible, such as claiming a few scattered vandals are responsible for a flawed plan for the Reflecting Pool.
As a young person, how is it that we can have any trust in a leader and government that acts against our best interests? Is he actually Making America Great Again?
We Can Co-Create a New Path Forward
It’s important to have leaders who listen to us and care about our struggles. If you’re here, reading articles about sustainability and our future, it’s because you’re someone who wants to improve and protect the world we share.
The way President Trump handled the Reflecting Pool renovation can serve as an important lesson to those of us trying to create real change in the world. Being able to team up and work together effectively is necessary for any group trying to address such a big issue as the climate crisis. Individual sustainable choices are essential, but these alone are not enough when the global economy and so many systems within it are dependent on polluting plastics and fossil fuels.
It’s difficult to organize collective solutions to the massive challenges we face. But in every case, we have to start with the truth. We need to honestly confront what we’re facing and engage the American people in coming together to develop transformative policies and actions.
Can we co-create a reflecting pool – and world – that embodies our values and vision for sustainability, health, equity and kindness?