'I like their money': Trump threatens lawsuits against ABC for reporting on Reflecting Pool

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: CNBC

'I like their money': Trump threatens lawsuits against ABC for reporting on Reflecting Pool

Published Mon, Jun 22 2026 10:54 PM EDT
Lim Hui Jie
@in/hui-jie-lim-a7371176/

KEY POINTS
* U.S. President claimed ABC "failed to report that their close 'friends,' Dumocrats Obama and Biden, spent over 100 Million Dollars on the Reflecting Pool, and it never worked."
* Trump said he was preparing lawsuits against the broadcaster for "false reporting."
* The latest action against ABC comes as the broadcaster faces two investigations from the Federal Communications Commission


FILE PHOTO: A logo for ABC is pictured atop a building in Burbank, California February 5, 2014.
Mario Anzuoni | Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to sue broadcaster ABC for its reporting on the cost of repairing damage sustained by the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington DC. ... The U.S. president said the network had not reported costs incurred by previous administrations in maintaining the landmark.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump claimed that ABC "failed to report that their close 'friends,' Dumocrats Obama and Biden, spent over 100 Million Dollars on the Reflecting Pool, and it never worked."

Trump did not give any evidence for the $100 million claim, but prior reporting by PBS indicated that former president Barack Obama's administration spent around $35 million on repairs for the monument. No major repairs to the pool are known to have been carried out during the Biden administration.

He also claimed that the damage to the monument has been caused by vandalism, but no evidence that the Reflecting Pool was intentionally damaged has been provided by the White House. ... Trump claimed to reporters on Monday that a "350-foot slit" was cut with a "box-cutter or a knife of some kind." NBC News reported that at least five people have been arrested in connection with the alleged vandalism. ... "We are preparing lawsuits against ABC for false reporting. I like their money, which will be given to the U.S. Treasury," Trump added, also referencing $16 million that ABC paid to settle a defamation case he filed in 2024.

{snip}

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2026/06/23/trump-threatens-lawsuits-against-abc-network-for-reporting-on-reflecting-pool.html

[Doodley]

1. He can't win a lawsuit that claims ABC didn't report his lies.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. Trump Exaggerates Previous Spending on Reflecting Pool - FactCheck.org

Reposted by Aaron Rupar
https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com

Ana Marie Cox
‪@anamariecox.com‬

Just to fact-check: Obama administration *did* oversee a overhaul of the pool. It cost $35M, not $100M, and the pool did reopen (uhm, obviously?). Trump also says Obama "took the water from it," one presumes to give away with all those phones.

https://www.factcheck.org/2026/06/trump-exaggerates-previous-spending-on-reflecting-pool/

Trump Exaggerates Previous Spending on Reflecting Pool - FactCheck.org
The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool began filling with water on June 4 following maintenance work that President Donald Trump called a "big project." Trump claimed that "the Biden administration and ...
www.factcheck.org

‪Aaron Rupar‬
‪@atrupar.com‬
· 11h

O'KEEFE: You said the guy was gonna do the reflecting poll in a week for about a million dollars. It's been two months and $16.5 million


TRUMP: Are you ready? Barack Hussein Obama


5:10 PM · Jun 22, 2026

Just to fact-check: Obama administration *did* oversee a overhaul of the pool. It cost M, not 0M, and the pool did reopen (uhm, obviously?). Trump also says Obama "took the water from it," one presumes to give away with all those phones.

www.factcheck.org/2026/06/trum...

— Ana Marie Cox (@anamariecox.com) 2026-06-22T21:10:04.608Z

[ShazzieB]

35. Thanks for this!

I assumed he was lying (because when does he not), but it's great to have the solid facts.

Poor widdle Baby Donnie! Are those nasty old journalists being mean to you again? Here, you might need this. *hands Donnie his pacifier*

[BadgerKid]

3. Ironic when playing victim is a call for a "fairness doctrine" for reporting.

[TexasBushwhacker]

4. I'm channeling Elaine on Seinfeld watching The English Patient

JUST DIE ALREADY!!!

[AllaN01Bear]

13. howdi. there is someone on here who asks that question daily ," is he dead yet?"

[wnylib]

5. The corrupt snowflake whines again.

Just a hustler always making up excuses to sue for money. If he paid half as much attention to real governance, we would not have become the third rate country that he has turned us into.

[IcyPeas]

6. Serious question... how many lawsuits has he filed during his presidency?

[orangecrush]

10. Has to be an all time record

[Miguelito Loveless]

7. ABC brought this on themselves

When they paid him off the first time.

[newdeal2]

8. At least they are fighting back a bit now

CBS is gone. Soon CNN will join them.

[Miguelito Loveless]

11. The problem is

are they going to fight, or just make a "pragmatic" business solution and pay him off again.

[YodaMom2]

25. They have changed their strategy,

and do seem to be taking a more forceful “fight back” posture, at least for now. They’re running ads during The View, their highest rated daytime show, telling viewers that the federal government is trying to control what guests they’re allowed to have, and asking them to contact the FCC directly. The even include a QR code for ease and convenience.

Only problem with this approach is that the tRump Administration doesn’t give a shit what the people want…

[Miguelito Loveless]

26. This is why it was critically important to not give in at the start

[PJMcK]

12. Exactly

They caved when they didn’t have to. Now the bully is back.

I almost don’t care because I have no respect for the ABC corporation. But the rule of law and honesty are too important.

[Bengus81]

24. Yep...and started the gold rush for Trump to grift by intimidation

Here we are 1.5 years later and going after ABC again. My guess...they tell him we'll see your fat NAZI ass in court

[MoseShrute]

9. Good.

Because just the other day maria barihola or whatever her name is over on Fux News said Obama sent Iran a plane with $100 billion when he was president. Looks like Obama will have a lawsuit to file.

[JohnnyRingo]

19. Sean Hannity won't have time to do his show anymore

...if this flies.
He'll be in court every day for a new lawsuit.

[popsdenver]

30. She is a worn out, old hag

like so many others in the rah rah republican FOX media cabal.............a decade or two ago, the last time around, FOX appointed her their "wall street expert", with no financial market experience what so ever, ........... this time around, fox re-treaded her, into a "political expert," with no experience what so ever......

[Kid Berwyn]

14. Ya don't placate a bully by giving in.

Never too too late to start.

Thanks, Capital Cities/Disney/ABC!

[Javaman]

15. and ABC should response, "but we like the orange pedo's money more" LOL nt

[Bayard]

16. I like money

There, fixed that headline.

[SergeStorms]

17. They're not "exaggerations."

They're freaking lies, and Mango Mussolini has lied his way through life since he was a child.

That's what I hate about the MSM. Call a spade a spade, not "a smaller shovel."
They're LIES!

[JohnnyRingo]

18. Heads up on Fox News.

If the administration is allowed to sue for "false reporting", Sean Hannity will be in the hot seat when the power in DC shifts to the blue side. Maybe we'll be able to sue the president for "misstatements". I'd like Trump's money.

[NoMoreRepugs]

20. Epstein and Iran are taking a back seat to this bullshit story - some Americans are so damn stupid.

[Mr. Evil]

21. Well, if he's gonna sue ABC for "false reporting,"

then I guess we could sue Focksnooze for tens of billions of dollars.

[IcyPeas]

23. If only! But they get away with it by saying they're not a news channel but Entertainment.

Infuriating that they are allowed to get away with their sh*t and half the country think it is actual news.

[Mr. Evil]

29. Yup... sadly.

[chouchou]

22. This afternoon, Fox News will have "Latest Scientific News" on the Truth on the Reflecting pool"

"Several people have said the Obama and Joe Biden dumped Nuclear Waste into the pool at night"
...plus the fact that both families shit and pissed in the reflecting pool...just for fun!"

[Wiz Imp]

27. What is the supposed "false reporting"?

Not mentioning something that happened in the paaast is NOT false reporting. What Obama and/or Biden did to the reflecting pool in the past has no bearing on what was being reported on now - the rapid reappearance of the algae and the pealing off of the liner/paint.

Never mind the lies about how much Obama and Biden spent. Nobody who wants to be taken seriously would ever talk about "false reporting" by referring to Democrats as "Dumocrats" like he's a whiny 10 year old. If he would follow through on a lawsuit, it would be immediately thrown out because of that statement alone which proves this is all about retribution and not actual reality.

[Bluetus]

28. We need a law that says the POTUS cannot sue anybody while in office

If the President is immune while in ioffice, then goose/gander. Simple as that.

If he wants to spend his own money suing somebody after he leaves office, then fine.

[kimbutgar]

31. That comment will be used against him in court as evidence of malicious prosecution

[Snackshack]

32. Journalists have a golden...

opportunity to step up here and be the next generation of journalists like Helen Thomas, Walter Cronkite, Mike Wallace... etc. that we desperately need.

Congress nor the supreme court would have been so brazenly open and willing to ignore the Oath they took, if we still had real journalists with intestinal fortitude.

[BattleRow]

37. Trump has NO issues with all the deflecting fools who have been sanitizing his excrement.

[Figarosmom]

33. What bs

I guess he likes courts throwing out his "cases". What a waste of space this guy is.

[tonekat]

34. He absolutely has to be removed

Whatever it takes. He's not all there.

[pfitz59]

36. ABC needs to start every story: Trump Lies, Again!

Omit 'President' and always use 'again'. Make him pony up facts and proof. He'll sputter like a clogged engine.

[Moostache]

38. Hey Trumpy Bear....

1) I KNOW you are the dumbest man to EVER hold office in these several states...
2) I KNOW you are a sex-offender (Thanks to the Aussie fans for the chant/song in my mind "Aussie boys are on a bender / Donald Trump's a sex offender&quot
3) I KNOW you are lying about sabotage, about slashes to the pool liner, about your height, your weight, your health and your martial status (since you sex worker 3rd wife left you for the REAL pool boy years ago)...

Now, come at me.
Sue me, charge me (discovery will be FUN AS FUCK).

I will give truth to the lie that IN THIS CASE anyone who defends themself has a fool for a lawyer, because even with no degree, never passing the bar and no interest in it either, I could be better than the clown car of sycophants in your orbit. Fuck you 47. 86 47 indeed. I wake up every day and hopefully look to see if you died yet, but send your goons at me. I will turn this into the biggest reality show in court since OJ.

Aussie Boys are on a bender...
Donald Trump's a sex offender!!!!

[mdbl]

39. Trump's ass needs to pay our court systems for all these frivolous, stupid unfounded lawsuits

He's a dumbass and so are his lawyers.

[mwooldri]

40. ABC needs to take a lesson from the BBC.

Make an apology if warranted, and then the response to T. Rump should be "see you in court".

[Figarosmom]

41. If the judge that gets the case when the law suit is filed

Last edited Tue Jun 23, 2026, 07:41 PM - Edit history (1)

Heard that or read it. He'd fine trump for a frivolous case.

[Initech]

42. Trump really needs a serious kick in the ass.

Like a good, solid steel toed boot. But even then he still wouldn't shut the fuck up. He is such a damn baby.