Donald Trump Says Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool Renovations Will Cost Less Than $20 Million

President Donald Trump said Thursday that his Reflecting Pool renovations in Washington, DC will cost “less than $20 million,” after he decided the exterior needed more work.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, “I originally thought I’d do it for $2 or $3 million,” and said the project’s exterior work was not included in his original numbers.

ABC News

Federal records cited by CNN show the price tag is already up to $13.1 million for the project, and Trump said the project is “probably at three quarters done.”

Trump said the “key is to have it done before July 4,” as a federal judge heard arguments by a nonprofit suing to stop the project in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

CNN reported that US District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, did not immediately rule on the motion to halt work while the legal challenge plays out.

During the hearing, Nichols said, “It seems to me that if there is any harm to be done it is both reparable and temporary,” while attorneys for the Cultural Landscape Foundation argued for an order halting work.

The judge pushed a Justice Department attorney to concede that while it’s not possible to remove the paint, it could be painted over in a way that brings the color back closer to how it was before work began this year.

BBC

CNN said the case was brought earlier this month and is the latest challenge to Trump’s effort to remake cultural and historic institutions and sites in Washington.

In the lawsuit, lawyers for the group wrote that “The new coloration will cause the pool to resemble a large swimming pool rather than the reflective civic landscape it was designed to be.”

CNN also quoted Alexander Kristofcak, an attorney for the challengers, telling Nichols on Thursday, “As we speak, the government is defacing a historic treasure.”

Trump has repeatedly disparaged the state of the Reflecting Pool, saying it is feces-infested and in disrepair, and he has zeroed in on the color he calls “American Flag Blue.”

In a separate update, People reported that Trump said, “It’s going to be beautiful. It’s going to be waterproof. It’s going to be reflecting again.”

People said Trump reiterated that his plan is for the Reflecting Pool project to be completed prior to July 4, and it described the paint as “American flag blue.”

The New Republic reported that David Schutzenhofer, general manager of the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, was effectively consulting on the renovation and recruiting contractors, while Interior Department spokeswoman Katie Martin said he was “unpaid and is volunteering his time to offer suggestions on this project because he is an American patriot.”

The New Republic also said the Interior Department did not elaborate on the specifics of Schutzenhofer’s role, and it described the renovation as expected to cost upward of $13.1 million, with Trump initially promising $1.8 million.