There is a degree of irony surrounding Donald Trump’s Reflecting Pool fiasco. For months, the president obsessed over the renovation project, framing it as a metaphor for how awesome his awesomeness is: The Republican would tackle a lingering problem that vexed previous administrations, while delivering impressive results quickly and cheaply.

It wouldn’t just be a triumph for his presidency; it would be a totemic success story, demonstrating that Trump’s unique approach to problem-solving is fundamentally superior to what Americans have come to expect from traditional officials.

At least, that was the idea.

The debacle has become a metaphor of sorts, but not the one Trump had in mind. As the Reflecting Pool turned green, and the blue paint that he was so excited about started peeling off the surface, the president has confronted all kinds of difficult questions, not only about his failed results, but also because the project took far longer than he promised, with a price tag that soared far above his initial assurances, all while cutting corners and relying on controversial no-bid contracts.

The Republican proved the opposite of his intended point: Instead of demonstrating the superiority of his model, he offered timely evidence that his approach doesn’t work.

With this in mind, the president came to realize in recent days that he needed an excuse — or preferably villains who could shoulder the blame for his own failures.

To that end, he began assuring the public over the weekend that he had succeeded beautifully, but that “vandals” intervened and ruined his triumph. At an unrelated White House event on Monday afternoon, the president went further, alleging nefarious criminals — some armed with “probably a box cutter or a knife of some kind” — attacked the Reflecting Pool with fertilizer and “did something to create the algae.”

The administration said six people were arrested on charges of vandalism, though without more information, it’s nearly impossible to say whether these people actually did anything wrong or whether they were charged as part of an inherently political exercise.

As is usually the case with Trump’s more outlandish claims, he has provided no evidence. At his Oval Office event on Monday afternoon, the president suggested the evidence exists, but he’s not yet prepared to share it.

As part of the same pitch, he added that a “slit” in the surface of the Reflecting Pool is itself “proof” of his claims, but there’s still no evidence that anyone ever actually attacked the pool with any kind of blade. (It didn’t help that Trump recently boasted that the surface would be impervious to knives, and he keeps changing his story about the size of the alleged slit.)

For good measure, the president also decided to whine about Barack Obama as part of the same clumsy presentation, though it wasn’t altogether clear why.

Indeed, one of the most amazing things about this story is the number of familiar boxes it checks. Trump fails to deliver on bold promises? Check. He relies on no-bid contracts and a rushed process that fell apart? Check. He concocts weird theories about his perceived enemies? Check. He desperately spins a fantastical tale with evolving details in the hopes of avoiding blame for his own failure? Check. His aligned prosecutors scramble to help justify his dubious claims with equally dubious charges? Check.

The attempted renovation of the Reflecting Pool, in other words, has started to capture Trump’s entire presidency in one embarrassing nutshell.

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