MS NOW⁠95%

Trump, still mired in distractions, turns his attention to the reflecting pool in D.C. ⁠89%

By Steve Benen⁠95%

4/24/2026, 7:18:39 PM

BS Summary: This article contains 21 faulty reasoning types, including Biased Writer Voice, Framing Effect, and Politically Left Leaning Bias, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 60.5% saturation with 360 hits. Analysis detected 1,491 faulty-reasoning hits from 595 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 81.7% and a BS Rank of ⁠89% (2,390 of 20,180 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 88.20% of the article peer group.

Amid widespread concerns about the struggling economy, a deadly and destabilizing war that hasn't gone according to the White House's plans and a burgeoning global energy crisis, recent polling has found two-thirds of Americans are convinced their unpopular president simply has the wrong priorities. 
Donald Trump could take steps to change their minds, but he apparently doesn't want to. 
On the contrary, the Republican appears far more interested in assorted renovation projects than his actual governing responsibilities. 
The New York Times reported: 
Next up on President Trump's renovation tour of Washington, D.C.: the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, which he called 'filthy' and 'dirty' and in need of a major upgrade. 
Mr. 
Trump said on Thursday that the project was already underway to renovate the reflecting pool, which is more than 2,000 feet long and has been the site of many historic events, including Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream' speech. 
At a White House event ostensibly about health care, Trump strayed from the topic to talk about the reflecting pool between the Washington and Lincoln memorials, taking time to argue that he "actually had more people" when he spoke at a July 4 event at the reflecting pool than MLK did when he delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963. 
("I have pictures of Martin Luther King's crowd and my crowd," the president said.) 
Why make such a claim? 
Because Trump is who he appears to be. 
The president went on to describe a situation in which he, relying on his experience as a developer who has built many swimming pools, rejected a contractor's claim that removing the pool's granite and replacing it with stone would take three years and cost $300 million. 
"I said, 'No, there's a better way of doing it,'" Trump said, reflecting on a conversation that may or not have happened in reality. 
"I said, 'What we're going to do is, I'm going to call all three of these people that have worked for me in the past doing swimming pools.'" 
He added that he told the contractors to "give me a good price," and one agreed to do the job quickly for "less than $2 million." 
It's difficult to know how much of the story is true, but according to the president, work is already underway as part of an apparent no-bid contract that he worked out, with specifications he chose, with an unnamed company he claimed to be familiar with. 
He didn't explain where the money came from, whether proper federal contracting procedures had been followed or whether any element of the endeavor has been or will be subject to any kind of oversight. 
An Associated Press report added, "Trump brought up the project unprompted and spoke about it for several minutes." 
This latest renovation project is not to be confused with the president's preoccupation with his ballroom vanity project, his crusade to build a "Triumphal Arch," his apparent excitement about the construction of a temporary White House arena for an upcoming UFC fight, his desire to turn the White House Executive Office Building into a giant white blob, his stated interest in renovating the White House Treaty Room, his specific marble and paint preferences for the Kennedy Center or the dozen or so other renovation projects Trump has prioritized in and around the White House complex. 
Two-thirds of Americans believe their unpopular president simply has the wrong priorities. 
He keeps proving them right. 
This post updates our related earlier coverage. 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 2.2%Steve Benen: 10.6%MS NOW: 7.6%Confirmation Bias2.2%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 1.6%MS NOW: 1.2%Anchoring Bias0.0%This article: 7.7%Steve Benen: 3.7%MS NOW: 3.7%Availability Heuristic7.7%This article: 1.3%Steve Benen: 0.9%MS NOW: 1.1%Representativeness Heuristic1.3%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 1.9%MS NOW: 1.3%Hindsight Bias0.0%This article: 4.4%Steve Benen: 3.1%MS NOW: 2.6%Overconfidence Bias4.4%This article: 33.8%Steve Benen: 23.2%MS NOW: 15.5%Framing Effect33.8%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.4%MS NOW: 0.7%Loss Aversion0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.8%MS NOW: 0.9%Status Quo Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.1%MS NOW: 0.1%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 1.3%MS NOW: 2.4%Optimism Bias0.0%This article: 0.8%Steve Benen: 3.1%MS NOW: 3.2%Pessimism Bias0.8%This article: 60.5%Steve Benen: 29.4%MS NOW: 19.4%Negativity Bias60.5%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 2.1%MS NOW: 2.4%Self-Serving Bias0.0%This article: 5.5%Steve Benen: 4.7%MS NOW: 3.1%Fundamental Attribution Error5.5%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.3%MS NOW: 0.3%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 3.4%MS NOW: 3.5%In-Group Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 3.3%MS NOW: 2.6%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.9%MS NOW: 2.2%Halo Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 4.5%MS NOW: 1.9%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.1%MS NOW: 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 2.9%MS NOW: 1.8%Recency Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.8%MS NOW: 0.6%Primacy Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.2%MS NOW: 0.2%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 7.9%MS NOW: 4.8%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 1.6%MS NOW: 1.3%Straw Man0.0%This article: 11.6%Steve Benen: 6.4%MS NOW: 5.4%Appeal to Authority11.6%This article: 3.0%Steve Benen: 1.5%MS NOW: 2.2%False Dilemma3.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 1.7%MS NOW: 2.2%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 2.2%Steve Benen: 0.2%MS NOW: 0.2%Circular Reasoning2.2%This article: 18.5%Steve Benen: 8.9%MS NOW: 8.1%Hasty Generalization18.5%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.7%MS NOW: 0.7%Red Herring0.0%This article: 9.4%Steve Benen: 1.2%MS NOW: 0.9%Bandwagon9.4%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 11.4%MS NOW: 9.9%Appeal to Emotion0.0%This article: 0.8%Steve Benen: 3.5%MS NOW: 2.4%Begging the Question0.8%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 3.3%MS NOW: 3.2%Post Hoc (False Cause)0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.9%MS NOW: 0.6%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 13.3%Steve Benen: 1.4%MS NOW: 0.9%Burden of Proof13.3%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.0%MS NOW: 0.1%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.2%MS NOW: 0.3%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 10.4%Steve Benen: 1.9%MS NOW: 2.6%Anecdotal10.4%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.1%MS NOW: 0.2%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 1.9%MS NOW: 1.7%Ambiguity (Equivocation)0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.0%MS NOW: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.1%MS NOW: 0.1%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 1.3%Steve Benen: 0.5%MS NOW: 0.3%Personal Incredulity1.3%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.2%MS NOW: 0.3%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 2.2%MS NOW: 1.3%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 4.7%Steve Benen: 3.8%MS NOW: 2.5%Unattributed Quote4.7%This article: 4.7%Steve Benen: 2.6%MS NOW: 1.5%Quote-first Misdirection4.7%This article: 34.5%Steve Benen: 22.8%MS NOW: 14.3%Biased Writer Voice34.5%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 1.4%MS NOW: 2.1%Indoctrination0.0%This article: 19.8%Steve Benen: 8.6%MS NOW: 5.3%Politically Left Leaning Bias19.8%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.6%MS NOW: 0.6%Politically Right Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Steve Benen: 0.2%MS NOW: 0.5%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…0.0%

595 words analyzed.

Speakers

3speakers19%attributed speech479writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Writer's voice • 14 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 44 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 15 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 18 words • 100.0% coverageThe New York Times • 5 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 28 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 1 words • 0.0% coverageDonald Trump • 41 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 62 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 14 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 5 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 8 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 46 words • 0.0% coverageDonald Trump • 24 words • 0.0% coverageDonald Trump • 28 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 26 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 45 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 34 words • 0.0% coverageAssociated Press • 18 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 95 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 12 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 5 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 7 words • 0.0% coverage
Selected voice

Associated Press

100%flagged-word coverage
18 attributed words16% of attributed speech95% writer coverage
0%22.5%45.0%Biased Writer Voice-42.8 ptsWriter: 42.8%Associated Press: 0.0%0.0%Politically Left Leaning B-24.6 ptsWriter: 24.6%Associated Press: 0.0%0.0%Unattributed Quote-5.8 ptsWriter: 5.8%Associated Press: 0.0%0.0%Quote-first Misdirection-5.8 ptsWriter: 5.8%Associated Press: 0.0%0.0%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.