This reporter simply refused to take Donald Trump’s word for it and you simply love to see it (more of this sort of thing, people!)
Kudos to CBS News reporter Ed O’Keefe who, like right-minded people everywhere, was left utterly bemused by Donald Trump’s claims that the shitshow that is the White House reflecting pool right now is the result of vandalism.
Specifically, a ‘350ft slit’ that someone’s carved in the bottom of it with an enormous knife.
The senior White House and political correspondent was keen to learn how this could have happened and what was the evidence for it.
And it’s fair to say he wasn’t letter it lie, he really wasn’t letting it lie.
Trump: “Who would think that somebody would go into a pool and take a knife and start cutting it?”
Reporter: “Do you have proof of that?”
Trump: “Yeah, we have proof…When you have a 350ft slit from one end to the other, you think that’s proof?”
Reporter: “There’s no evidence… pic.twitter.com/HHvyvmjI6s
— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) June 22, 2026
And here is a longer clip for added context, with the bonus of Ed O’Keefe in the actual video.
Pressed by CBS News’ @EdOKeefe on whether there is evidence vandals damaged the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, President Trump pointed to what he described as long cuts in the pool’s surface and claimed someone may have deliberately caused the recent algae outbreak.
“I saw… pic.twitter.com/vtTrm48ZCV
— CBS News (@CBSNews) June 22, 2026
Or if you prefer it short and sweet.
This exchange is nuts.
TRUMP: I can’t help it if somebody goes in with a knife and starts hacking it up, and we also have pictures of it.
O’KEEFE: Can you release the photos? We’ve been asking for them.
TRUMP: Yeah, at the right time you’ll see it. You’ll see it in court. But… pic.twitter.com/IR0RvXfgbf
— CALL TO ACTIVISM (@CalltoActivism) June 22, 2026
Hats off to the Edmeister as presumably no-one anywhere calls him. And these people surely said it best.
1.
trump is lying
There is a 24/7 camera and potentially other cameras that show the Reflecting Pool.
If someone went into the pool and made a 250 foot gash, it would have been seen.
Also, there’s no evidence of a 250 foot gash. https://t.co/pz2XRNBgKx
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) June 22, 2026
2.
After leaving MAGA, and realizing–painfully but liberatingly–that I had allowed myself to believe years worth of lies, I vividly recall how angry I was at myself for letting my intelligence be insulted for years. https://t.co/CqZt5AW54b
— Rich Logis/Leaving MAGA (@PerfectOurUnion) June 22, 2026
3.
Does this imbecile honestly think ANYONE is going to believe this insane made up story? He is absolutely the most audacious liar that has ever lived. He’s trying to tell us a vandal somehow cut the pool floor across 350 feet, somehow without being noticed by the monitoring… https://t.co/61ezqJAexS
— Al Bernstein (@AlBernstein) June 22, 2026
4.
Reflecting Pool now upgraded to Deflecting Pool.
— _ (@SundaeDivine) June 22, 2026
5.
This exchange is nuts.
TRUMP: I can’t help it if somebody goes in with a knife and starts hacking it up, and we also have pictures of it.
O’KEEFE: Can you release the photos? We’ve been asking for them.
TRUMP: Yeah, at the right time you’ll see it. You’ll see it in court. But… pic.twitter.com/IR0RvXfgbf
— CALL TO ACTIVISM (@CalltoActivism) June 22, 2026
6.
Only president defeated by algae pic.twitter.com/3D1poIRQx0
— Josh Burwick (@1JoshBurwick) June 23, 2026