'No-bid contract for Reflecting Pool reportedly shows inflated profit margin'

(MS NOW) "On the surface, Donald Trump’s obsession with renovating the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is a political problem for obvious reasons: The more the public expects the president to do real work on the challenges facing the public and the nation, the more the Republican fixates on personal distractions and vanity endeavors."

"But the closer one looks at the no-bid contract for the dubious renovation project, the more one realizes that Trump’s tone-deaf crusade is a mess for multiple reasons."

"According to the president’s initial claims, the handpicked contractor would charge only $1.8 million to repair the iconic pool. Two weeks ago, that price tag soared to $13.1 million. Last week, Trump said he thought the overall cost to American taxpayers would 'probably' be 'less than $20 million.' "

"It reached the point that the president insisted online that he wasn’t involved in choosing the contractor, whom he said he 'did not know and have never used before.' He had previously said the exact opposite, sparking questions as to which version of his contradictory story was true."

Continued at link:

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/no-bid-contract-trump-reflecting-pool-nflated-profit-margin-report