Trump's obsession with the Reflecting Pool is his attempt to relive a distant memory of triumph, according to a biographer.
Michael Wolff, the author of books about Trump and his administration, talked about Trump's pool obsession during an episode of "Inside Trump's Head," a podcast he co-hosts with Joanna Coles, the outlet's chief content officer.
"One of the things in thinking about the Reflecting Pool I have reflected on is that there was a moment in Trump's New York history," Wolff told Coles. "A pivotal moment when there was an ice skating rink, Wollman Rink in New York."
Trump famously renovated the Wollman Rink in New York, and it bought him a lot of favorability with the city, Wolff recalled.
"The City of New York had made many promises about the upkeep of the rink, and they didn't deliver," Wolff explained. "Donald Trump, still quite a young man at this point, stepped forward and said he would do it, he would pay for the renovation of the rink, and he would do it within a very short period of time."
Trump "actually managed to do this," Wolff said. "And this was the moment that kind of gave him the can-do. 'I can cut through the red tape. I can accomplish anything. I'm a guy with his feet on the ground and get government out of the way and let me do it.'"
Wolff recalled how Trump had put up signs around the rink reading, "Trump Wollman Rink," although its name had never been changed to the Trump Wollman Rink.
With the Reflecting Pool's $14 million renovation, "he's returned to this moment in his life," but "the only problem is, of course, it's not quite working out as it did once long ago," Wolff said, referring to the fact that the landmark turned green with algae and the paint liner began to peel away.