Sam Stein calls Trump’s Reflecting Pool woes ‘emblematic’

People are always like, why do we care so much about this story?Shouldn't you be supportive of a clean, reflecting pool?Don't you want this to work?And the answer to that is yeah.I do want this to be a success.It was pretty cool for the day when we did have a clean pool and it reflected really well.

But the fact of the matter is that Donald Trump did something here which is emblematic of the way he approaches virtually every issue, which is he claims that there's some sort of problem that only idiot predecessors of his couldn't solve.

But through sheer force and determination and will and smarts, Donald Trump can get it done.And not only that, he can get it done for less money than anyone expects.and faster than you possibly could have imagined.And then when it happens, he doesn't follow the usual processes that you're supposed to do.He skirts around procurement laws and contract laws and environmental laws, and he does it, and then it doesn't always work out.Often it doesn't work out.

And now we're left with a pool that's got algae in it, that's peeling, that if you talk to any expert, probably is going to have to be drained again and reset.And we're left having to say, well, what did we spend that $14 million for?

And yeah, $14 million isn't maybe the biggest thing when you look at other expenditures, but it is something.And it is emblematic of a bigger problem that we're dealing with.