Trump Accidentally Damages Monument in Renovation Rampage

There is now a hole in the German-American Friendship Garden fountain.

It looks like President Donald Trump’s sweeping construction projects have damaged yet another national monument.

A fountain in the German-American Friendship Garden on the National Mall is in bad shape after a contractor vehicle drove over it, Newsweek reported Thursday.

The center of the fountain has collapsed into the ground, and stones surrounding it were severely cracked, according to recent photographs captured by photojournalist Andrew Leyden. Repairs are reportedly underway.

This recent damage to a national monument comes amid Trump’s sweeping renovation efforts around Washington, D.C. This isn’t the first time that federal contractors hired by the Trump administration have damaged a historic landmark.

Just a few hundred yards away from the cracked fountain, renovations on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool have been disastrous. Shortly after construction was completed, large sections of the pool’s new blue lining began to peel off. Experts have suggested the peeling was the result of shoddy application—not shadowy vandals, as administration officials have suggested. 

Trump’s disastrous renovations on the Reflecting Pool have already cost taxpayers more than $16 million. The iconic monument has been left drained, surrounded by chain-link fences, and under strict surveillance. 

A short walk away, the $69 million worth of renovations on the Lincoln Memorial Undercroft have also had issues. The National Parks Service has struggled to maintain safe conditions to display historical documents, leading them to be removed from the brand-new exhibit last week.  

Darline Graham Tries to Bury Her Only Political Donation on Record

MAGA is furious upon learning the new senator may not be as anti-abortion as her brother.

Newly minted Senator Darline Graham, stepping in for her recently deceased brother Lindsey, only has one political donation on record—and it was to a South Carolina state senator who helped kill an abortion ban. 

The Daily Beast reported on Tuesday that Graham in 2020 donated $100 to state Senator Katrina Shealy, who is perhaps best known for filibustering the state’s near-total abortion ban in 2023. 

Shealy was part of South Carolina’s “sister senators,” a group of five female state lawmakers—two Republicans, a Democrat, and an independent— who were in staunch opposition to the ban. Shealy lost her primary the next year, largely due to this vote. 

Graham tried to bury the news of her ties to Shealy, writing in a statement on X on Wednesday that she believed in “protecting the sanctity of human life at every stage.”

“For years, I’ve committed my life to fighting for vulnerable populations, and........

© New Republic