Since returning to office, President Donald Trump has embraced artificial intelligence on Truth Social, posting a steady stream of synthetic content that glorifies himself while mocking his rivals. There was Barack Obama’s arrest. Trump dumping excrement on protestors. And Trump styled as Jesus.
His latest AI post takes a surreal turn: a video depicting himself refilling the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool with human tears.
In the six-second clip, shared Thursday evening, the 79-year-old president is shown gripping a hose attached to a tank encasing a person’s head. The tank appears half-filled with tears, which flow through the hose and into the pool as Trump smiles.
It appeared to reference the widely circulated “Liberal Crying Woman” video, which shows a woman in a green jacket screaming during Trump’s first inauguration in 2017.
Truth Social users ate it up.
“It is great to have a president that is so smart and so whole that he can make such jokes,” wrote one commenter, while another chimed in: “Scientists are calling this a breakthrough in renewable water sources!”
The president’s post came as workers began filling the Reflecting Pool on Thursday, following weeks of renovations to coat the bottom of the basin in “American flag blue.”
The Republican president announced the project in April, saying he was prompted to act after a friend complained about the pool’s condition. He also faulted his Democratic predecessors, accusing them of allowing the roughly 2,000-foot Reflecting Pool to fall into disrepair.
According to The New York Times, the Trump administration awarded a no-bid contract typically reserved for urgent situations to the president’s longtime contractor, described as his “pool guy,” to carry out the repairs.
“This project is now being completed at ‘Trump Speed’ to ensure the iconic landmark is totally restored ahead of the 250th celebrations,” White House Spokesperson Taylor Rogers previously said in a statement to The Independent.
Trump estimated the project would cost up to $2 million, but federal records show contracts tied to the work total at least $14.8 million.
Despite the escalating price tag, the repairs do not address the pool’s underlying plumbing system, which, if compromised, could allow algae to overtake the basin, the Times reported.
On Thursday, the White House shared photos of the pool being refilled, writing on X: “The water is ON, the Reflecting Pool is reflecting, and D.C. is looking better than ever. We are so back. THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP.”
A court filing from the administration indicates the pool will be filled by Sunday.
It’s just one of the many changes the former real estate developer has made to the nation’s capital. Since returning to office, he’s paved over the Rose Garden, started work on a White House ballroom and unveiled plans to erect a 250-foot victory arch on the banks of the Potomac.
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