Washington, DC’s famous Meridian Hill fountain sat bone dry for seven straight years while Democrats ran the city.
Now Trump fixed it – and something unexpected happened.
Even the people who hate him went on social media and said he got this one right.
Eighteen Fountains. One Executive Order.
The 13-basin cascading fountain at Meridian Hill Park – one of the longest in North America – had been shut off since 2019.
Seven years.
The National Park Service told residents the fountain couldn't be touched for years – budget constraints pushed any realistic timeline to 2027 at the earliest.
Trump signed an executive order in March 2025 directing federal agencies to make the District of Columbia safe and beautiful ahead of America's 250th birthday this July.
The fountain is running again.
Not just Meridian Hill, either.
https://twitter.com/PenguinSix/status/2048051480737857710?s=20
The Lafayette Park fountains – directly across from the White House – turned on for the first time in decades.
Trump posted about it on Truth Social himself: "The first time Lafayette Park Fountains, opposite the White House, have worked in decades. My Great Honor to have funded this project."
All told, nine fountains are being fully rehabilitated and returned to service, with nine additional operational fountains receiving maintenance and system upgrades across the capital.
His 2027 budget requests a $10 billion Presidential Capital Stewardship Program to keep the restoration work going long after July 4th.
The Part Democrats Didn't Expect to Say Out Loud
Carter Christensen, a communications strategist for ActBlue – the Democrat Party's main fundraising machine – posted on X: "Cannot believe it's taken this long, but this truly makes me so incredibly happy to see."
https://twitter.com/CarterChristens/status/2046600150282310036?s=20
Tré Easton, vice president of the liberal think tank Searchlight Institute, went further.
He called the fountain restorations the best thing this administration has done – and said it wasn't even close.
Anthony LaMesa, a Trump critic who writes on Substack, posted: "Credit where credit is due. The Trump administration is finally fixing fountains around Washington, DC that have been out of order for many years."
Another Democrat strategist was equally direct: "Can unequivocally say: all the fountains in the nation's capital should work and I'm glad the Trump people got this done."
These are people who spend their professional lives fighting everything this president does.
When they start publicly handing out credit, it means something.
What Democrats Spent Seven Years Not Doing
The National Park Service had known about the Meridian Hill fountain problems since at least 2019.
A $15 million project is now underway to repair the fountain and restore the upper-level grounds.
That money was there all along – or could have been.
What was missing was someone who decided it mattered.
White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told Fox News the reaction proved the point.
Trump's restoration push was so popular, she said, that even Democrats were praising it publicly – and the capital would look more spectacular than ever for America's 250th birthday.
https://twitter.com/maustermuhle/status/2046580922330366080?s=20
Democrats who screamed about his "vanity projects" – the White House renovations, the Kennedy Center renaming, the plans for a triumphal arch – had nothing to say this week when broken fountains started flowing again in their own backyard.
They were too busy posting how happy it made them.
The party that spent years lecturing America about investing in communities couldn't fix a fountain.
Trump did it in one executive order.
And even the ActBlue strategist had to admit it.
Sources:
- Ashley J. DiMella, "Trump's DC Beautification Push Wins Rare Dem Praise," Fox News, April 26, 2026.
- National Park Service, "NPS Advancing Major Park Beautification and Infrastructure Improvements across Washington, D.C.," nps.gov, January 2026.
- "What to Know About Meridian Hill Park's Closure," The 51st, March 2026.
- "Trump Celebrates Success of DC Beautification," Washington Examiner, April 24, 2026.
- "Credit Where Credit Is Due: Democrats Applaud President Trump's Revitalization of D.C.," Breitbart, April 26, 2026.
