President Donald Trump has long blamed vandals for the persistent problems plaguing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, including algae blooms and peeling paint. Now, Scooby-Doo and his team of mystery investigators are on the case — at least in a newly released parody video.
Posted online this week, the video spoofs an episode of the animated series while skewering Trump, whose administration recently acknowledged that a botched renovation was responsible for the pool’s problems.
Created by Jason Moore, an Ohio-based graphic artist, the video has drawn more than one million views on Facebook, and tens of thousands more across YouTube and TikTok.
Moore, who identifies as an independent, told The Independent that the Reflecting Pool saga is representative of “the absurdity” taking place in Washington, D.C. “I thought Scooby-Doo would be a good way to put a highlighter on it,” he said. “And regardless of what side of the political fence you're on, you can have a little laugh and be entertained at the same time.”
The clip opens with Trump summoning Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, Daphne, Fred and Velma to the Oval Office. “Somebody, very bad people, turned my beautiful pool green: vandals,” the president says before enlisting the gang to “solve the mystery behind it.”
The group heads to the Reflecting Pool in search of clues. There, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo encounter the “Potomac Muck Man,” who chases them while Velma investigates the pool itself. The gang then uses “decoy unredacted Epstein files” to lure the monster into a trap.
After the creature is caught in a net, Fred embraces the urban legend that it had long haunted the grounds. But Velma — who earlier discovered peeled paint, a ripped section of liner and a rushed no-bid contract to repair the pool — ultimately cracks the case.
“There were never any vandals,” says Velma, Mystery Inc.’s most analytical member. “The dark paint made the perfect conditions for this whole debacle, and the contractors botched the job, which led to the liner peeling itself.”
She removes the Muck Man’s mask to reveal that the culprit is the Republican president.
“He played the Muck Man and made up the whole vandal story to scare everyone off before they figured out he was responsible for the whole thing,” she says.
Trump then delivers the franchise’s signature line: “And I would've gotten away with it too if it weren’t for you meddling kids.” Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, responds: “Oh, you’re going to get away with it. We’ll see to that.”
The roughly three-minute clip — which quickly went viral — drew thousands of comments across various platforms, with many viewers praising it for its uncanny resemblance to an original Scooby-Doo episode.
“I somehow missed this one when I was a kid,” wrote one YouTube user, while another chimed in: “This story has all the bells and whistles of a classic Scooby-Doo episode.”
“I am not an AI fan, but this deserved a 'like,’” wrote a third user.
Moore — who has created numerous political satire videos — said the project took roughly 50 hours to complete, including scriptwriting and using AI to assist with video production.
The spoof comes as the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool remains at the center of political controversy.
In April, the Trump administration launched a restoration project intended to spruce up the landmark ahead of America’s 250th birthday in July. The work included applying an “American flag blue” sealant to the pool’s basin.
But the project — carried out under a no-bid contract awarded to a Trump-linked firm and ultimately costing about $16 million — ran into trouble almost immediately. Algae turned the water green, while pieces of the blue coating began floating to the surface.
Officials tried a series of remedies: pouring bleach into the water, vacuuming up algae and, eventually, draining the pool and erecting fencing to allow for additional repairs.
The 80-year-old president, without providing evidence, blamed vandalism for the damage, and several people were arrested at the site, including Olympic canoeist David Hearn — who appears in the parody video as a scapegoat.
Earlier this month, however, the government dropped its charges against Hearn and several others in connection to the pool. Pirro’s office said that, in light of new information released by the Interior Department, “it is difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism, let alone to establish that fact beyond a reasonable doubt.” The office instead blamed a “botched installation” by contractors.
Trump quickly voiced frustration with Pirro’s decision, telling reporters on Aug. 3: “Frankly, I think she choked.”
