Donald Trump posted dozens of messages on Truth Social overnight and into Tuesday morning, hours before his state visit to China. The posts attacked Barack Obama and Joe Biden, repeated 2020 election claims, and imagined himself on the $100 bill. The most intense posts focused on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
Trump has been pressing for the pool to be refinished. He erupted after reports exposed the astronomical costs. The New York Times published a story Monday revealing the project's price tag has risen from Trump's promised $1.8 million to nearly $14 million.
Trump attacked the Times and its reporter David Fahrenthold in his posts. "This is not just a paint job," he wrote. "It is a deeply complicated work of smart and beautiful construction." He claimed the Interior Department, not he, selected the contractor, despite previously saying he chose Atlantic Industrial Coatings because they had worked on his golf club pool.
Trump awarded the contractor a no-bid deal, bypassing the competitive bidding process typically required for government contracts. His reason: it was "too urgent."
Trump now claims the project will cost "5 or 6 Million Dollars" and be completed in two weeks. The Interior Department has made different statements.
The posting spree came hours before a critical diplomatic mission to China.
