Trump’s Reflecting Pool price tag makes waves on CNN panel
A panel debate over the cost of Trump’s Reflecting Pool renovation on CNN’s Table for Five, turning into a broader fight over federal spending and taxpayer priorities.
The multimillion-dollar price tag attached to President Donald Trump's renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool made waves Saturday on CNN's "Table for Five" as panelists clashed over whether the project was a justified investment in the nation’s capital or a sign of misplaced priorities.
Host Abby Phillips questioned the $13 million cost incurred so far by repairs to the Reflecting Pool, along with other renovations in D.C., including the White House's East Wing overhaul and the regilding of statues surrounding the Lincoln Memorial.
A blue protective coating is applied to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool during renovation work in Washington on May 29, 2026. (Rahmat Gul/AP)
"Is it just monopoly money to the president at this point? We just got through DOGE, when they fired, you know, a bunch of federal employees claiming that every penny mattered, and now nothing matters?"
New York Post columnist Lydia Moynihan rebutted, touting the value of making Washington safer and more beautiful and comparing Trump's aesthetic resurfacing of the pool to former President Barack Obama's $35 million restructuring effort.
"These are pennies when you consider what Democrats are proposing spending trillions of dollars [on]," she said.
"There are things that we do every day, finding fraud, Trump Rx... There's all kinds of policies like that he's implementing that are good, and we're just not talking about them on this show."
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Workers continue applying a blue protective coating to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington on May 30, 2026. (Jose Luis Magana/AP)
By that point, the panel had erupted into argument, with guests speaking over one another. Journalist Touré pointed to Trump's statement that the federal government could not pay for childcare, the high cost of gas and the rising cost of the war with Iran.
"Why would we do those things when we are at war, when we have a sinking economy?" he asked.
"If you can't see that one is trillions and one is literally 13 million... So we should just let everything go to hell?" Moynihan responded. "I mean, should we not repair our roads either because it costs too much money?"
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Touré fired back that that was "obviously not the other side of that dichotomy" before Phillips retook control of the table, stating that it came down to priorities and that the American people are asking themselves who and what Trump is prioritizing.
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"At the end of the day, it's the 250th anniversary of the U.S. It is good that we are prioritizing making D.C. safe, healthy, attractive," said former Michigan Rep. Peter Meijer.
"Too bad we've got a hole where the East Wing was, though, right?" replied journalist John Avlon.
