Let's begin with the less serious of these two self-inflicted crises. This spring, Trump for some reason became fixated on the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall, which had not previously been a topic of national discussion, but which he believes should vibrate with a deep Technicolor blue. The administration awarded no-bid contracts for both a color coating and a new water-purification system, with the latter going to a company tied to a Trump-campaign donor previously convicted of conspiracy to bribe. Surprising no one, both parts of the project have been a disaster. As my colleague Matt Viser has vividly reported, the pool is beset with algae, and the blue coating is coming off in big chunks. Now Trump says water will likely have to be removed from the pool to do 'necessary repairs''in other words, $16.4 million in taxpayer money will go down the drain. (Credit where it's due, though: This may become the first time Trump will have actually drained a swamp.) He also blamed...
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