Trump Critic Stephen King Praises Renovated Reflecting Pool
Novelist Stephen King broke with years of Trump criticism to call the renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool 'very beautiful,' highlighting tangible results where previous administrations failed.
Stephen King called the renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool "very beautiful" Wednesday, a simple compliment that cuts through years of vitriol. The novelist who once labeled President Trump "rotten to the core" offered his praise as the pool sparkled with new life, retweeting Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's social media post with nothing more than genuine appreciation.
King's words carry weight given his history. He called Trump "a Russian asset" in 2019 and declared in 2018 that the president "has to be removed from office." A 2022 interview with The Sunday Times captured his view plainly: "I happen to think that Trump was a horrible president and is a horrible person." Yet standing before a project that actually works, King found he could not withhold acknowledgment.
The pool had been broken for decades. Water leaked from its concrete basin at a rate of roughly 45,000 gallons daily, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum stated. A 2019 Department of the Interior budget report documented 71 million gallons of replacement water needed each year. Costs topped $1 million that year alone, covering both leaks and evaporation. The Obama administration invested $35.3 million in a 2010-2012 renovation that never fixed the fundamental problem.
Trump announced the renovation April 23 after a German friend described the water as "filthy, disgusting." Workers drained the entire pool and hauled away 11 to 12 dumpsters of garbage from the basin. They sandblasted the surface and applied a waterproof coating in what officials called "American flag blue." An ozone nanobubbler filtration system joined the upgrades, and crews declared the work finished June 4. Total contracts reached at least $14.8 million.
Burgum told Breitbart News Daily that Trump's background in construction made all the difference. "We had to have water continuously running into it, just to keep even," Burgum said June 3. "All of that's going to be taken care of, because we've got the master builder. He's the only guy that's ever occupied that office that's done the level of complex construction projects."
The establishment media launched its attacks before the first stone was moved. The Washington Post enlisted color consultant Jill Morton, who warned in May, "That dark blue, if it is that dark, oh man, that's going to look very, very dismal." The Cultural Landscape Foundation filed a lawsuit arguing the blue basin would reduce the pool to something resembling "a resort or theme park."
Pool expert Steve Goodale offered a different reading to the Washington Post. He said the dark blue would likely produce "a more sharp and accurate reflection versus the original gray color." Americans walking the National Mall seemed to agree. Lutnick posted that "a thousand people" were enjoying the newly restored pool on June 9.
Trump invited the construction crew to the Oval Office on June 10 and signed their hats before handing out presidential challenge coins. His administration finished the project ahead of the July 4 celebrations marking America's 250th anniversary.
When workmen show up with tools instead of press releases, results speak for themselves. Even the president's harshest critics find themselves looking at water that finally stays where it belongs.