U.S. President Donald Trump, with White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, attend a signing of two executive orders regarding quantum computing, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 22, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
President Donald Trump's latest threat to sue a media company over its reporting was swiftly mocked by political analysts on Monday.
Trump posted on Truth Social that his administration is preparing a lawsuit against ABC News over its reporting on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which has faced significant criticism because of the project's shoddy work and ballooning costs. Initial estimates for the renovation came in at around $2 million, but the final bill was for roughly $16 million, according to reports. Meanwhile, the bottom of the pool has been peeling off, and the algae Trump promised to get rid of has returned in full force.
"We are preparing lawsuits against ABC for false reporting. I like their money, which will be given to the U.S. Treasury!" Trump wrote in the post.
Political analysts bashed Trump's threat on social media.
"Discovery should be interesting," Melanie D'Arrigo, executive director of the Campaign for New York Health, posted on X.
Arthur Delaney, a reporter at HuffPost, described Trump's threat as "ridiculous" in a post on X.
"So he’s threatening to sue ABC News for… *not* publishing something?" Jared Holt, senior researcher at Open Measures, posted on Bluesky.
"If you saw this in some random dictatorship somewhere, it would be late-night TV catnip," economist Sky Marchini posted on Bluesky.