'HUGE FREAKIN' MESS': Trump tries to pass the buck on his botched pool job

For weeks, Donald Trump has been bragging about his big renovations to the iconic Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool.And the Trump administration hired a company that had never worked for the federal government before, giving them a special no -bid contract that has grown from an initial cost of around $1 .8 million to more than $13 million.And now it appears that project isn't going so well.The New York Times reports that the repairs appear uneven and behind schedule.And so naturally, Trump is distancing himself from the company doing those repairs, posting on Truth Social, quote, I didn't give out the contract, quote, I don't know why it's in quotes, interior did to a contractor I did not know and have never used before.Interesting.

I mean, why would anyone assume Trump had chosen the contractor for this poll project?

I said, you know, Doug, I have a guy who is unbelievable at doing swimming pools.I said, what we're going to do is I'm going to call all three of these people that have worked for me in the past doing swimming pools.

So I call people that do swimming pools and I say, go take a look at it.

I said, I have an idea.I'm going to send my contractor over and take a look.I have some very good contractors, some good, one or two in particular.And I sent the two, actually the three best.He looked at it, he called me up, he said, sir, we can do something on it.He came back, he said, what an exciting job, sir.

Oh, right.Maybe because Donald Trump said repeatedly in public on camera that he personally chose his pool guys to renovate the reflecting pool, which is not a swimming pool, and I don't know if he's confused or not.And now the New York Times has obtained documents from Interior Department staff that raise concerns about the quality and speed of the repairs.That document reportedly says that there are bubbles and holes in the waterproofing and uneven coating has left the pool mottled in various shades of blue, which is weird.because the reflecting pool wasn't bright blue before.I mean, why are they going to all that trouble to paint it bright blue in the first place?

We actually picked the color that's called American Flag Blue.It's called American Flag Blue.I said, that's the color I want.I said, that's the color I want.I want American Flag Blue.American Flag Blue.

I said, that's the color I like.I picked American Flag.See the blue?I picked American Flag.It was called American Flag Blue.

All right.That's why.This whole project seems like a huge, freaking mess.I mean, the renovations are shoddy, the budget's ballooning, and it's also reportedly behind schedule, which is especially noteworthy, because the Trump administration skirted the rules for choosing federal contractors specifically because they said it needed to be done before the America 250 celebration on July 4th.Today, Democratic Congressman Joe Negus pressed Trump's Interior Secretary about how this all came about.

Who picked this company?Because President Trump A few months ago, in a New York Times article, said, I have a guy who's unbelievable at doing swimming pools.He looked at it, he called me up, he said, sir, we can do something on it.The National Park Service and the leaders on the National Mall are the ones that picked it.A no -bid contract is reserved for situations where, quote, any delay would cause serious injury to the government.19 fountains across the city that didn't work.

That's the serious injury to the government?The serious injury to the government?

Joining me now is the guy who couldn't keep a straight face there, I wouldn't have been able to either, Democratic Congressman Joe Neguse, ranking member on the House Subcommittee on Federal Lands.Okay, this story, I mean Trump spent weeks saying he chose his pool guy for this contract and the White House told the New York Times that Trump didn't have a personal relationship with the contractor.but was familiar with their work.Then Doug Burgum told you that the contractor Trump kept talking about wasn't part of the project at all.And, of course, the work is incredibly shoddy.What is—what is going on here, to the degree you know?

Well, first and foremost, thanks for having me on, Jen.And thank you for your reporting, I think, in exposing these improprieties.As you saw from that exchange, there are more questions than answers.really couldn't offer a cogent rationale for why his agency gave a no -bid $13 million contract to this contractor, who apparently, by all accounts, has never had a federal contract before.And of course, you've covered extensively the conflicting reports.One day, the president claims that it's his pool guy.

Then he denies that that's the case and that he had nothing to do with it.The secretary really had no particular answer to the questions.uh... that i post so i i think that we're gonna find out that they're even more in proprieties at best it is a gross waste of taxpayer resources at worst it's another violation potentially a federal procurement laws and i think More generally, it's symptomatic of the grift and the fraud and I think the corruption that we've seen within this administration just metastasized over the course of the last 18 months.

Your point about it being a pattern is so important.I mean, the reflecting pool for those of us who live in Washington or anyone who's visited is obviously a historic landmark, but it's bigger than that.I mean, they're giving out no -bid contracts to companies doing not just that, but the ballroom innovation, repairing fountains in Lafayette.

parkformer Secretary Kristi Noem, as you know, who was fired, at least in part, based off of all of the improprieties there that her department was engaged in under her leadership.Look, at the end of the day, this is taxpayer money.It is not Donald Trump's money.It doesn't belong to his billionaire cabinet that he's assembled.It is the money of hard -working taxpayers.

We have federal procurement laws for a reason, so that ultimately, the taxpayers are not getting fleeced by virtue of any potential conflicts of interest.And of course, in this case, you have Donald Trump saying, this is going to cost $1 million, $2 million.It's ballooned now to $13 million.Lord only knows how high that number will ultimately go.By the way, just contextually, He's asked Congress for a $10 billion slush fund for these vanity projects while they are gutting the public land management agencies that folks out west in Colorado and the Rocky Mountain West that I represent rely on day in, day out.So I think the American people are fed up with this kind of corruption, and that's why, in part, his unfavorability is so high.

It's such an important point.I mean, federal government money is not endless.It's not growing on trees.If they're spending it on things like repainting bright blue, American flag blue, the reflecting pool.They're not spending it on other things.Exactly.

I'm so grateful you're here.Thank you so much for being here with me.And for Grillin, Secretary Burgum there today, it was fun to watch you do that.

Thank you.