Scott Jennings backs Trump, blames anti-Trump vandals for Reflecting Pool damage

Conservative commentator Scott Jennings stood firmly behind President Donald Trump, arguing there is truth in his claim that vandals driven by political hatred were responsible for damaging the reflecting pool. "Somebody did vandalize the grass. Even when workers were working on the pool, I read that people came and vandalized their trucks and their equipment. You have people who hate Donald Trump so much that they would go out and destroy our national monuments. It's terrible," he told CNN's Kaitlan Collins.

Jennings, who previously served as an adviser to former President George W. Bush, went further in defending Trump's record on the capital. "The fountains work, the city is clean, the city is safe. It's good that he has taken an interest in this. I hope anybody who vandalizes our monuments get caught and put in jail. He's trying to make the city beautiful for America's 250. There's going to be a lot of people and they deserve to go to a clean, safe capital," he concluded.

The 48-year-old also pushed back on criticism of the renovation itself, asserting on his podcast that algae was an inevitability of nature rather than a reflection of poor execution. "It's just nature. But you can't fault a guy for trying to clean up Washington, DC, just a little bit. He drains the pool, paints the bottom, and lo and behold, it gets a little hot. The sun comes out, we get a little algae in the pool, which caused the media to go insane," he said on his podcast, pointing out that algae thrived in summer.

Jennings affirmed that the nanobubbler technology being used was effective in clearing up the algae. "It is a good reflecting pool. On a nice day, you go up on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, you see the reflection. And all the people out there who think somehow Donald Trump is the inventor of algae, when for time immemorial, algae has been forming in stagnant ponds in the middle of Washington, DC," he explained.

The longtime Republican operative's comments came amid growing scrutiny over the pool's troubled renovation. An algae bloom turned the water green following the project's completion. This was followed by the pool's blue coating to peel off at the bottom. The deterioration has intensified questions about whether the $16 million overhaul, which began in April, was a responsible use of government funds.

Trump, meanwhile, claimed that multiple arrests had been made in connection with the alleged vandalism. "What these terrible vandals have done is a true affront to both Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and should be dealt with accordingly. We met with contractors today, will probably be forced to release and drain much of the water in order to do the necessary repairs, but will have them done as quickly as possible," he said.

He went on to detail the alleged damage, claiming it extended far beyond the algae. "They took some form of knife or blade, and put a 250-foot-long gash into the beautiful facade of what took so much work, competence, and money to build and complete. They also poured corrosive and destructive chemicals into the pool. The Reflecting Pool was never so beautiful as it was just one week ago, even going back to 1922 when it opened. We are very proud of what we have done with this magnificent structure," he wrote on Truth Social.