File photo: ABC logo on top of a building in Burbank, California, February 5, 2014.
Mario Anzuoni | Reuters
US President Donald Trump has threatened to sue broadcaster ABC for reporting on the cost of repairing damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, DC.
The US president said the network did not report the costs incurred by previous administrations to maintain historic buildings.
In a post on Truth Social, President Trump claimed that ABC “never reported that their close ‘friends’, Democrats Obama and Biden, spent over $100 million on reflecting pools, which never worked.”
President Trump offered no evidence for the $100 million claim, but former President Barack Obama’s administration spent about $35 million restoring the monument, according to a preliminary report on PBS. There are no known major renovations to the pool during the Biden administration.
He also claimed that the damage to the monument was caused by vandalism, but the White House has provided no evidence that the reflecting pool was intentionally damaged.
President Trump told reporters on Monday that a “350-foot cut” was made with “a box cutter or some kind of knife.” NBC News reported that at least five people were arrested on suspicion of vandalism.
President Trump also referenced the $16 million ABC paid to settle a defamation lawsuit filed in 2024, adding, “I’m preparing a lawsuit against ABC for false reporting. I like their money, and that money will go to the U.S. Treasury.”
The network paid $15 million donated to President Trump’s library and an additional $1 million in legal costs.
ABC reported last week that the cost to repaint the Lincoln Memorial’s reflecting pool had ballooned to more than $14.65 million.
That was more than $4 million more than the original estimated cost of the no-bid contract, which was not awarded through competitive bidding, according to federal contracting data.
The station also highlighted a $1.74 million contract won by Ohio-based company Green Water Solutions to install a “nanobubble” system to kill algae using a similar no-bid process.
This would bring the total project cost to more than $16 million.
The action against ABC comes as the station faces two investigations by the Federal Communications Commission, led by President Trump’s appointee Brendan Carr.
The FCC also required ABC to submit early renewal applications for eight local broadcast licenses. The move comes shortly after comedian Jimmy Kimmel made a joke about first lady Melania Trump and the US president called for Kimmel to be fired.
According to reports, these stations are not expected to apply for renewal until 2028 at the earliest.
On Monday, ABC announced it would launch an on-air campaign to encourage viewers to support the network after its daytime talk show “The View” was investigated under federal “equal time” rules for political candidates, Reuters reported.
