Kathrine Frich
Wolff suggested the president might feel everything else is slipping out of his grasp.
Running a country usually means juggling global crises, dropping poll numbers, and delicate peace deals. But when the pressure mounts, even top leaders can find themselves fixated on a single, unexpected detail. Right now, that distraction sits right outside the window.
A surprising focus
Donald Trump is reportedly dedicating a massive chunk of his working hours to the Reflecting Pool in Washington. The water feature was recently renovated at a huge cost, but it is already struggling with peeling paint and bright green algae.
The president blames vandals for the mess. The situation has now become an all-consuming issue inside the administration, according to the Irish Star.
Investigative journalist Michael Wolff recently shed light on the unusual situation. He spoke about the dynamic during an appearance on the Daily Beast YouTube channel.
Wolff has spent decades observing the president. He claims his current White House sources are highly confused by the new priority.
Demanding an answer
The journalist shared that the president is spending up to 80 percent of his time on the pool problem. Major issues like a fragile Iran peace deal are apparently taking a back seat.
“Trump is devoting almost all of his time to the reflecting pool, all of his anger, all of his rage, all of his demands,” Wolff said. “And now his need for vengeance.”
The author added that the president wants someone held accountable. “Someone needs to be responsible, someone is responsible for this, it’s clearly not Trump, let’s get them, let’s punish them, let’s arrest them,” Wolff said.
Staffers reportedly find the behaviour baffling. Wolff noted that the president has completely bypassed Doug Burgum, the Secretary of the Interior, who would normally handle park maintenance.
Searching for a reason
Wolff suggested the president might feel everything else is slipping out of his grasp. The journalist explained that the pool should be an easy thing to manage, making the failure to fix it highly frustrating.
“I think he obviously has signs of dementia I’m just not comfortable with moving that to a diagnosis,” Wolff added. “Something is unusual, something is not as it should be.”
Psychologist Dr. John Gartner echoed those concerns on a recent Daily Beast podcast. He told listeners he is alarmed by how quickly the president appears to be deteriorating.
But for now, the murky water feature remains front and center. As Wolff noted, choosing to focus exclusively on the pool for over a week is simply odd.
Sources: The Irish Star, The Daily Beast
