Novelist, Hollywood producer, and unabashed Republican critic Stephen King is nothing if not inconsistent. The determined foe of President Donald Trump has gone public with his admiration for the rejuvenated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in the nation’s capital.
King took to social media Wednesday to express his shock and awe at the beauty of the pool which stands proud on the National Mall.
It has had a full makeover at the behest of the president King has never stinted from abusing, as Breitbart News reported.
The septuagenarian commented on a post about the pool on social media simply saying, “very beautiful.”
This is the same man with a long list of full-frontal Twitter attacks against the president.
As far back as 2019 he has called Trump “a Russian asset,” said the president was “holding federal workers hostage,” said Trump “has to be removed from office,” and insisted Trump is “rotten to the core.”
Now he has found something to cheer.
An admirer takes a photo of the Washington Monument near the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on June 9, 2026 in Washington, DC. Construction continues on the National Mall as the nation’s capital prepares for America’s 250th events. (Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images)
Thanks to Trump’s initiative, the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is now coated in a swimming pool surface hued in “American flag blue,” recoating a decades-old granite surface Trump said was “leaking like a sieve” and would take years to replace.
Along the way establishment media outlets that have been critical of the move in the past are now silent.
The Washington Post, for example, published an entire article devoted to picking apart the shade of blue chosen for the bottom of the pool, running to a “color consultant” who believes the shade will look “very dismal.”
The New York Times has also targeted the improvements.
Lined with stately elm trees between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, the reflecting pool is one of the most iconic sites in the capital. It’s where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963, as AP has noted.
Other former critics have also been won over.
Speaking to Breitbart News Daily about the upgrade, Interior Secretary Burgum said there were many facets to this repair, but America is fortunate to have the “master builder” in charge to get it done.
Referring to the fact that prior to President Trump’s renovations, the pool was leaking 45,000 gallons of water a day, Burgum said, “We had to have water continuously running into it just to keep even. All of that’s going to be taken care of, because we’ve got the master builder.”
Burgum then set out all praise is due to the president and his foresight as he works to revitalize Washington, DC, and its monuments for America’s upcoming 250th birthday.
“We’ve got President Trump. You know, he’s the only guy that’s ever occupied that office that’s done the level of complex construction projects. And he loves construction workers. He loves construction, and he knows exactly what he’s talking about on these projects.”

