Reflecting Pool Contractor Admitted Its Own Errors Caused Issues, Not Vandals: Report
The contractor hired to renovate the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool told the Trump administration that the liner peeled and broke not because of vandals, as President Donald Trump has long insisted, but because of its own errors, The New York Times reported Friday.
Atlantic Industrial Coatings, which Trump selected to perform the multimillion-dollar work, said in documents reviewed by the Times that there were problems in both the project’s design and execution. The company took responsibility for the damage in one report dated Aug. 14, and offered more detail on Sept. 2, according to the Times.
Trump over several months has accused vandals of causing the destruction, even after the Justice Department dropped criminal charges against some of those accused.
Federal prosecutors last week requested that a judge allow them to potentially reopen a case against one accused vandal, despite admitting to having no evidence linking him to the alleged crime, The Washington Post reported.
Read the Times full report here:
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Trump Is Still Very Much Operating Off ‘Concepts’ Of A Health Care Plan
Roughly two years after President Donald Trump claimed he had “concepts” of a healthcare plan during a debate with former Vice President Kamala Harris, his proposal is still very much a work in progress.
In January 2026, the administration released a legislative framework called the “Great Healthcare Plan,” which broadly addressed prescription drug costs, reducing insurance premiums and increasing transparency among insurers and healthcare providers. However, the outline offered little information on how it would fund or implement its provisions.
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Documents Claim Kennedy Center Could Close Tuesday Over Safety Concerns: WaPo
The Kennedy Center could close its main building as soon as Tuesday because of purported safety concerns raised by the institution’s officials, according to a Washington Post report citing documents sent to the venue’s board of trustees.
The documents argue that the building was deteriorating and needs to be shuttered to address certain renovations. They also warn that the center is in financial turmoil and claim that giving President Donald Trump public recognition – including inscribing his name on the center’s exterior – was central to guaranteeing his support for fundraising efforts.
Such statements follow Trump’s attempt to add his name to the institution and appear to be the latest endeavor by Kennedy Center officials to justify that action, along with the fixes he’s demanded.
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Johnson Admits Trump’s $5,000 Dividends Need Congressional Approval
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) acknowledged Sunday that President Donald Trump’s proposed $5,000 payments to Americans if Republicans maintain control of the government after the midterms would need congressional approval in order to become a reality.
“I would assume, yes, he’d need Congress to act,” Johnson said in a CNN “State of the Union” interview.
“We think not,” Trump told CBS News Texas on Thursday, when asked if the $5,000 payments would require congressional support.
As Reuters explained, Trump would need Congress to pass the dividends since the Constitution gives lawmakers authority over federal spending.
Johnson also stopped short of guaranteeing the delivery of the payments on Sunday, noting only that Congress would “work through” the proposal. According to an analysis by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, allowing the payments would cost $1.2 trillion.
“I commit that Congress will work through it and find consensus on that, like I have to do everything else,” Johnson said in an NBC News “Meet the Press” interview.
Jasmine Crockett Presents Chris Brown And Usher With A Congressional Record
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) presented Chris Brown and Usher with an official Congressional Record.
“Right now we are experiencing some Black joy to the highest level and I wanted to make sure we document that in the Congressional Record,” Crockett said to the crowd at the artists’ The R&B Tour Saturday night in Arlington, Texas.
Crockett was joined on stage by Texas State Rep. Venton Jones (D) and music producer RoccStar, who shared a video of the moment on Instagram. In the video, it shows that the Congressional Record was for both Brown and Usher, who are on tour together, for their artistry.
Mike Johnson Argues AI Leaders Need To ‘Take Personal Responsibility’
House Speaker Mike Johnson addressed the growing number of AI leaders who are calling for a global slow down in the development of artificial intelligence models amid the uncertain growth of technology.
During CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, Johnson shared his take after host Jake Tapper mentioned that several top AI leaders, like Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and Open AI CEO Sam Altman, united over the weekend to warn that AI models are advancing too fast.
They are “begging for Congress and the president to step in and provide some guard rails,” Tapper said.
“Frankly, they seem terrified,” Tapper added. “Do you think AI as it is right now poses an existential threat, and are you going to heed their request?”
According to Johnson, the government is heeding their request but, “we are also calling upon [the AI heads] to do responsible things.”
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Trump Wants The Job Of Press Secretary Done By … The Rest Of His Secretaries
With Karoline Leavitt no longer serving as the White House press secretary, President Donald Trump said Sunday that he may just delegate the job to his other secretaries.
“We have a lot of people that want it, many people that want it. … You know what we’re gonna do for a little while? We’re gonna use the secretaries,” the president told reporters outside Air Force One.
Trump named Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Education Secretary Linda McMahon. He also named Vice President JD Vance saying he “did a great job” when he recently spoke to the press.
“We’re gonna use a lot of our secretaries,” he said. “And we’ll do it for a little while, but ultimately I’ll pick somebody.”
El-Sayed Hits Back At GOP's Attacks Against Him: 'The Barbarian Is In The White House'
Abdul El-Sayed, Michigan’s Democratic nominee for Senate, hit back Sunday at offensive attacks made against him at last week’s GOP midterm convention – throwing a term Republicans used back at them.
“We know who the Mamdanis and the El-Sayeds are. But it’s the Democrats in the swing seats who say one thing, and then join forces and vote with the socialists that they’re afraid of. That is the dangerous part,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said at the convention. “They’re the ones who have let the barbarians inside the gate.”
Speaking on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” El-Sayed told Weijia Jiang that “the barbarian is in the White House, and we’re seeing the consequences of that right now.”
The progressive candidate pointed to how Republicans at the convention spent time attacking him while avoiding issues like rising gas prices, inflation and increased tariffs happening under the current administration.
“They’re gonna point to me, they’re gonna talk about me, they’re gonna point to my name, they’re gonna point to our faith. And at the end of the day, they’re doing that so you don’t pay attention to the fact that you’re being nickeled and dimed by the barbarian in the White House, and by a set of public policies that are not in your interest but in his.”