{"id":10031,"date":"2026-09-29T09:26:41","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T09:26:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/?p=10031"},"modified":"2026-09-29T13:27:02","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T13:27:02","slug":"why-trump-may-not-apologize-for-the-reflecting-pool-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/why-trump-may-not-apologize-for-the-reflecting-pool-claims\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Trump May Not Apologize for the Reflecting Pool Claims"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Daniel Butcher<\/a><\/p>\n

Atlantic Industrial Coatings, which the Trump administration handed a no-bid contract to redo the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, admitted in internal government documents that its employees were responsible for installation errors and design flaws that caused the pool\u2019s blue liner to peel, contradicting the president\u2019s claims of vandalism. The contractor\u2019s reports and National Park Service logs confirm that the damage stems from the contractor\u2019s poor project execution rather than vandals, according to The New York Times<\/em>.<\/p>\n

However, according to Academy of Management Scholar Jeffrey Sonnenfeld<\/a> of the Yale School of Management, who moderated the panel \u201cThe Framers of 1776 vs. The Nation\u2019s Leadership In 2026; Is the Vision Now Vivid or Blurred?<\/a>\u201d at the 2026 AOM Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, one cannot expect U.S. President Donald Trump to revise his accusations of vandalism. Sonnenfeld has coauthored the book Trump\u2019s Ten Commandments: Strategic Lessons from the Trump Leadership Toolbox<\/em><\/a> with Steven Tian, also of Yale.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite all evidence, Trump insists it was a vandal who damaged the reflecting pool, and a 67-year-old former Olympic kayaking or canoeing superstar Davey Hearn, who walks by it winds up getting blamed as being the vandal who destroyed it all,\u201d Sonnenfeld said. \u201cIt turns out, once they drained it and inspected it, even his acolyte, Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, who he installed as U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, was smart enough and honest enough to say, \u2018Wait a minute! It\u2019s all through the middle of the pool. Nobody went in. There\u2019s no vandal in there, and we have no footage of this alleged vandalism. That was shoddy work.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo Trump\u2019s furious at her now, even though she told the truth,\u201d he said. \u201cMeanwhile, he has Doug Burgum, who he appointed as the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, saying, \u2018Well, it was still vandalism.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so Trump will try to find ways of deflecting blame for the reflecting-pool debacle, try to find villains or scapegoats, blame somebody else, and that is a way of changing the subject.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Daniel Butcher Atlantic Industrial Coatings, which the Trump administration handed a no-bid contract to redo the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, admitted in internal government documents that its employees were responsible for installation errors and design flaws that caused the pool\u2019s blue liner to peel, contradicting the president\u2019s claims of vandalism. The contractor\u2019s reports and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":9891,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_ppma_block_editor_authors":""},"categories":[71,29,19,78],"tags":[],"sp_smart_badges":[],"ppma_author":[70],"class_list":["post-10031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-communicating","category-emotions","category-leadership","category-policy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Trump May Not Apologize for the Reflecting Pool Claims - Academy of Management Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Atlantic Industrial Coatings, which the Trump administration handed a no-bid contract to redo the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, admitted in internal government documents that its employees were responsible for installation errors and design flaws that caused the pool\u2019s blue liner to peel, contradicting the president\u2019s claims of vandalism. The contractor\u2019s reports and National Park Service logs confirm that the damage stems from the contractor\u2019s poor project execution rather than vandals.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/why-trump-may-not-apologize-for-the-reflecting-pool-claims\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Daniel Butcher\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/why-trump-may-not-apologize-for-the-reflecting-pool-claims\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/why-trump-may-not-apologize-for-the-reflecting-pool-claims\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Daniel Butcher\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d1297a59039d9ca7bac9d9f0952e508c\"},\"headline\":\"Why Trump May Not Apologize for the Reflecting Pool Claims\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-29T09:26:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-29T13:27:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/why-trump-may-not-apologize-for-the-reflecting-pool-claims\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":356,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/why-trump-may-not-apologize-for-the-reflecting-pool-claims\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/The-Lincoln-Memorial-Reflecting-Pool-appears-green-after-an-algae-bloom-in-June-2026-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"COMMUNICATING\",\"EMOTIONS\",\"LEADERSHIP\",\"POLICY\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/why-trump-may-not-apologize-for-the-reflecting-pool-claims\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/why-trump-may-not-apologize-for-the-reflecting-pool-claims\\\/\",\"name\":\"Why Trump May Not Apologize for the Reflecting Pool Claims - Academy of Management Today\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/why-trump-may-not-apologize-for-the-reflecting-pool-claims\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/why-trump-may-not-apologize-for-the-reflecting-pool-claims\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/The-Lincoln-Memorial-Reflecting-Pool-appears-green-after-an-algae-bloom-in-June-2026-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-29T09:26:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-29T13:27:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.aom.org\\\/today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d1297a59039d9ca7bac9d9f0952e508c\"},\"description\":\"Atlantic Industrial Coatings, which the Trump administration handed a no-bid contract to redo the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, admitted in internal government documents that its employees were responsible for installation errors and design flaws that caused the pool\u2019s blue liner to peel, contradicting the president\u2019s claims of vandalism. 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Previously, he was a writer and the Finance Editor for Strategic Finance magazine and Management Accounting Quarterly, a scholarly journal, at the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA). Prior to that, he worked as a writer\/editor at The Financial Times, including daily FT sister publications Ignites and FundFire, as well as Crain Communications\u2019s InvestmentNews and Crain\u2019s Wealth, eFinancialCareers, and Arizent\u2019s Financial Planning, Re:Invent|Wealth, On Wall Street, Bank Investment Consultant, and Money Management Executive. He earned his bachelor\u2019s degree, Cum Laude, from the University of Colorado Boulder and his master\u2019s degree from New York University. You can reach him at dbutcher@aom.org or via LinkedIn.","sameAs":["https:\/\/aomtodayprod.wpenginepowered.com","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/danielbutcher"],"url":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/author\/daniel-butcher\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":70,"user_id":4,"is_guest":0,"slug":"daniel-butcher","display_name":"Daniel Butcher","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/DanButcher_Academy-of-Management.webp","url2x":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/DanButcher_Academy-of-Management.webp"},"author_category":"1","first_name":"Daniel","last_name":"Butcher","user_url":"https:\/\/aomtodayprod.wpenginepowered.com","job_title":"Managing Editor, AOM Today, Academy of Management","description":"Daniel Butcher is a writer and the Managing Editor of AOM Today at the Academy of Management (AOM). Previously, he was a writer and the Finance Editor for <i>Strategic Finance<\/i> magazine and <i>Management Accounting Quarterly<\/i>, a scholarly journal, at the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA). Prior to that, he worked as a writer\/editor at <i>The Financial Times,<\/i> including daily FT sister publications <i>Ignites<\/i> and <i>FundFire<\/i>, as well as Crain Communications\u2019s <i>InvestmentNews<\/i> and <i>Crain\u2019s Wealth<\/i>, eFinancialCareers, and Arizent\u2019s <i>Financial Planning, Re:Invent|Wealth, On Wall Street, Bank Investment Consultant<\/i>, and <i>Money Management Executive<\/i>. He earned his bachelor\u2019s degree, Cum Laude, from the University of Colorado Boulder and his master\u2019s degree from New York University. You can reach him at <a href=\"mailto:dbutcher@aom.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">dbutcher@aom.org<\/a> or via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/danielbutcher\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">LinkedIn<\/a>."}],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/The-Lincoln-Memorial-Reflecting-Pool-appears-green-after-an-algae-bloom-in-June-2026-scaled.jpg",2560,1709,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/The-Lincoln-Memorial-Reflecting-Pool-appears-green-after-an-algae-bloom-in-June-2026-scaled.jpg",2560,1709,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/The-Lincoln-Memorial-Reflecting-Pool-appears-green-after-an-algae-bloom-in-June-2026-scaled.jpg",2560,1709,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/The-Lincoln-Memorial-Reflecting-Pool-appears-green-after-an-algae-bloom-in-June-2026-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/The-Lincoln-Memorial-Reflecting-Pool-appears-green-after-an-algae-bloom-in-June-2026-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/The-Lincoln-Memorial-Reflecting-Pool-appears-green-after-an-algae-bloom-in-June-2026-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/The-Lincoln-Memorial-Reflecting-Pool-appears-green-after-an-algae-bloom-in-June-2026-1536x1025.jpg",1536,1025,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/The-Lincoln-Memorial-Reflecting-Pool-appears-green-after-an-algae-bloom-in-June-2026-2048x1367.jpg",2048,1367,true],"owl_elementor_thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/The-Lincoln-Memorial-Reflecting-Pool-appears-green-after-an-algae-bloom-in-June-2026-600x400.jpg",600,400,true],"owl_elementor_team":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/The-Lincoln-Memorial-Reflecting-Pool-appears-green-after-an-algae-bloom-in-June-2026-350x450.jpg",350,450,true],"owl_elementor_testimonial":["https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/The-Lincoln-Memorial-Reflecting-Pool-appears-green-after-an-algae-bloom-in-June-2026-100x100.jpg",100,100,true]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Daniel Butcher","author_link":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/author\/daniel-butcher\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/category\/communicating\/\" rel=\"category tag\">COMMUNICATING<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/category\/emotions\/\" rel=\"category tag\">EMOTIONS<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/category\/leadership\/\" rel=\"category tag\">LEADERSHIP<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/category\/policy\/\" rel=\"category tag\">POLICY<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"By Daniel Butcher Atlantic Industrial Coatings, which the Trump administration handed a no-bid contract to redo the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, admitted in internal government documents that its employees were responsible for installation errors and design flaws that caused the pool\u2019s blue liner to peel, contradicting the president\u2019s claims of vandalism. The contractor\u2019s reports and…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10031"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10031\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10046,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10031\/revisions\/10046"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10031"},{"taxonomy":"sp_smart_badges","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sp_smart_badges?post=10031"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=10031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}