Trump saving $300 million on Reflecting Pool renovation, Mike Lee says

Trump draws praise from Utah Sen. Mike Lee, who says the president is saving $300 million on the Reflecting Pool renovation.

First Published: September 7, 2026, 10:00 AM ET

WASHINGTON D.C. — Donald J. Trump drew public praise from a leading Senate ally, who credited the president with saving $300 million on the renovation of the Reflecting Pool.

The endorsement came in a post carried on Trump’s account, reproducing a message from Mike Lee, a Republican U.S. Senator from Utah. Lee wrote that Trump is saving the money and that critics were reacting with alarm. Trump’s account carried the claim to his own followers, framing the renovation savings as a win. The $300 million figure originated with Lee’s message and does not appear in any independent public record reviewed for this report.

“Trump is saving $300 million on the Reflecting Pool renovation,” Lee wrote in the reproduced post. “Naturally, leftists are freaking out over it.”

Here is the full post on truthsocial: “Trump is saving $300 million on the Reflecting Pool renovation. Naturally, leftists are freaking out over it.” on September 7, 2026 at 9:50 AM ET.

This is Trump’s 1st message released today, out of three total, and the last post was 11 hours ago, and it is not part of a thread. On average, Trump produces 18 posts per day since his inauguration on January 20, 2025. The move fits a broader pattern in Trump’s recent messaging, with 4 of his 636 posts over the last 30 days classified as Government Reform posts.

Lee is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and serves as Chairman of the Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights Subcommittee protecting business competition and personal freedom according to talkabout.iclrs. Elected in 2010 as Utah’s 16th senator, he has built his career around constitutionally limited government, fiscal responsibility, individual liberty, and economic prosperity according to talkabout.iclrs. His father, Rex Lee, served as Solicitor General under President Ronald Reagan according to talkabout.iclrs.

Lee graduated from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor of Science in political science and served as the school’s student body president in his senior year according to talkabout.iclrs. He graduated from Brigham Young University’s law school in 1997, then clerked for Judge Dee Benson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah and for future Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit according to talkabout.iclrs. He later spent several years as an attorney with the law firm Sidley Austin LLP, specializing in appellate and Supreme Court litigation according to talkabout.iclrs.

Lee served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Salt Lake City, arguing cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, and worked as General Counsel to Utah Governor Jon Huntsman before returning to private practice in 2007 according to talkabout.iclrs. He and his wife, Sharon, live in Alpine, Utah, with their three children according to talkabout.iclrs.