Desperate!': Karoline Leavitt Returns to Work and Humiliates Herself Defending Trump's Reflecting Pool -- And Social Media Gave Her a Perfect Welcome

A $14 million beautification project at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has driven renewed political and media conflict around Donald Trump’s claims of sabotage. The article says the renovation work—fresh paint and new sealant—was followed by problems including algae-filled water and peeling paint weeks later. Trump, 80, argued that “vandals” caused the damage, and his administration issued statements for days, including involving the Department of the Interior. It also describes Leavitt’s return to work as press secretary on June 23, after maternity leave following the birth of a daughter named Vivian on May 1; she previously resumed duties after only three days for her first birth. The piece states she told Fox News that critics were “deranged leftists in algae costumes,” and notes the earlier public attention on her comments. The article mentions her husband, Nicholas Riccio, and their son Niko, but offers no official investigation outcome in the excerpt.