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

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.

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