A White House social media account unleashed a torrent of personal attacks on former CNN correspondent Jim Acosta on Wednesday, June 24, 2026, after he posted video evidence undermining President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that vandals slashed the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool with a blade.
The official @RapidResponse47 account on X called Acosta “truly one of the dumbest individuals to have ever existed” and told him to seek professional help, declining to address the substance of his reporting.
What Acosta Found at the Pool
Walking the full length of the 103-year-old landmark in Washington, D.C., Acosta searched for the slash Trump has repeatedly insisted was carved into the pool’s base by vandals. He came up empty. Instead, he discovered paint on the pool’s bottom peeling away in large sections — shoddy renovation work carried out under the administration’s direction.
Acosta, who served as CNN’s chief White House correspondent through both the Barack Obama and first Trump administrations, said he went looking for the slit Trump keeps lying about but didn’t find any of that, though he discovered extensive evidence that the coating applied to the pool floor had deteriorated and fallen apart.
Costly Project Spirals Out of Control
Trump’s decision to resurface the reflecting pool’s concrete bottom in what the administration described as “American flag blue” has ballooned into a financial and public relations disaster. The project’s cost began at an estimated $2 million but has since expanded with total expenses beyond $16 million. No-bid contracts were issued without planning approval, and lawmakers now seek accountability for the project’s management.
When the pool was refilled earlier this month, the protective coating on the concrete began coming loose almost right away, and the water turned a poisonous green shade as algae spread without control. Workers have been working to kill the algae and resurface the base, and helicopters have circled overhead to prevent further incidents. Dead ducks were also reportedly found near the pool.
Trump Blames Democratic “Thugs”
Rather than acknowledge the possibility of a construction failure, Trump moved quickly to assign blame. He told NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Wednesday that Democratic “thugs” were responsible, saying six people had been arrested and that six or seven more were under investigation. Trump claimed vandals used a box cutter or sharp knife to slash the pool’s rubberized surface and may have deliberately dumped fertilizer into the water.
The president also linked one of the suspects to the Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue, saying the person was a major donor to Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden. He told Rutte the pool would be drained and restored around the Fourth of July.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt amplified that line on Fox News, saying those arrested were deranged individuals and longtime donors to the Democratic Party, to Barack Obama and to Act Blue.
Years of Animosity Between Trump and Acosta
The animosity between Acosta and the Trump orbit stretches back years. In November 2018, the White House suspended his press credentials after falsely accusing him of pushing an intern during a briefing. A doctored video of the incident circulated widely and led to a lawsuit before his access was eventually restored.
In January 2025, Trump posted on Truth Social describing Acosta as among the least credible and most dishonest journalists in the profession and a major sleazebag, reacting with visible delight to reports that CNN had moved him to a late-night slot. Acosta ultimately left the network that month after declining an offer to anchor a late-night program that would have required him to relocate to Los Angeles. His response to Trump’s Truth Social attack was characteristically dry — he posted a screenshot of it and observed that someone appeared to be suffering from “Acosta Derangement Syndrome.”
Senator Richard Blumenthal, a member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, said Washington will now celebrate America’s 250th birthday with an empty reflecting pool — a circumstance he called a testament to the project’s mismanagement.