President Donald Trump’s latest claim involving a box cutter isn’t as sharp as he may think.

Over the weekend, the president whipped up quite the excuse for why the $14 million “American flag blue” coating he had installed in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is now peeling as algae turn the water a toxic shade of green: “vandalism.”

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump claimed that the supposed vandals “went in there with a knife” and carved a “290, 300-foot slit right through it, probably a box cutter or a knife of some kind,” adding that the pool will likely be drained to “re-fix it.”

Trump’s evidence of this crime is about as flimsy as the peeling surface currently floating in the Reflecting Pool, and a video published on X Monday makes the claim look even more dubious.

The video features Trump making a promise during a Small Business Summit in May that the coating being installed into the Reflecting Pool couldn’t be cut by a knife.

“This will last for at least 50 years and you’ll never have a leak,” Trump said at the time. “I don’t want to give anybody ideas, [but] if you had a knife, you can’t even cut it. So strong, so powerful. It’s like powerful rubber.”

Trump on the reflecting pool: "If you had a knife, you can't even cut it."Also, Trump on the reflecting pool: "They cut it." pic.twitter.com/uHfd69GKUa

The video then cuts to Trump’s allegation of knife-inflicted damage to the pool — which not only contradicts his claim in May, but also highlights how some members of the press weren’t exactly buying what Trump was selling.

CBS News’ Ed O’Keefe told Trump that this kind of vandalism would have been tricky to pull off, considering that the National Guard and police have been “all over” the National Mall, prompting the president to double down on his claim.

“We didn’t have a lot of them then,” Trump said, presumably referring to security. “Who would think that somebody would go into a pool and take a knife and start cutting it?”

When O’Keefe continued to press, asking if Trump had any proof of vandalism, the president responded that “yeah, yeah, I have proof,” but neglected to show any. Instead, he implied that the “350 — I think it’s 350, not 250 — a 350-foot slit from one end to the other” was proof enough.

O’Keefe mentioned that no one has actually seen this so-called slit — which seems to grow longer whenever Trump mentions it — but the president passed the buck to the National Park Service for more information.

The journalist wasn’t the only one who was incredulous about Trump’s allegation. Critics on X were pretty annoyed at seeing the president talking out of both sides of his mouth.

One of these is a lie. Pick one. https://t.co/7lkP9ptRSc

He didn’t anticipate the mighty box cutter. Like he didn’t see the Straight of You Lose closing.

...special ACME knife... pic.twitter.com/21kSUTW2xK

You ruined the pool. You know you ruined it. Just say you ruined it! pic.twitter.com/91sRdAik21

Why do people even care what he says?  His words are worthless.

According to a report published by the New York Times last month, the Park Service told Trump during his first term that “the only solution” to the pool’s pond scum issue “was to replace thousands of feet of pipe.”

Experts maintained to the Times that if the pool’s leaky pipes aren’t fixed, the pond weed will rear its ugly head once again.

“If that happens, the pool’s newly waterproofed blue floor could again be invisible under a layer of green murk,” the Times wrote.

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