USA25 June, 20263 min read
Donald Trump Says Six Arrested Over Damage To Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Renovation over budget with delays and algae blooms complicating completion. Democrats investigate renovation practices, including potential no-bid contracts and oversight.
Renovation turns political
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that six people have been arrested over recent damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, a project he described as a $14-million-plus rehabilitation effort ahead of the country’s 250th anniversary celebrations. Trump claimed without supporting evidence that there had been a “350-foot gash” in the paint, while the Associated Press reported that one man was arrested after touching the already-peeling paint.
The AP said Trump pledged to beautify the century-old Reflecting Pool by draining its water and having the bottom painted a color he dubbed “American flag blue,” but since the site was restored its water has been plagued with algae bloom and pieces of the new coating appeared to be peeling off the bottom. The Associated Press also reported that Trump, without evidence, repeatedly blamed the peeling paint on vandalism, writing Tuesday that “It was purposefully and criminally done, and somebody had to work very hard, probably in the dark of night, to create such a condition.”
Democrats demand answers
A group of Senate Democrats is probing Trump’s troubled renovation of the reflecting pool in Washington, arguing in a Thursday letter led by Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee ranking member Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and addressed to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum that “The American people deserve to know why the rehabilitation project has failed.” CNBC reported that the senators said the project has been plagued with issues including “project management, contracting practices, quality control, and fiscal responsibility,” and they argued that the “issues now facing the reflecting pool are not simply maintenance concerns, but failures in project execution and government oversight.”
CNBC said Trump acknowledged issues with the paint and the algae but, without evidence, blamed the shallow pool’s problems on vandals, while a White House press release argued Trump has been proven correct by pointing to a surveillance video of an alleged vandal the Park Police are attempting to identify. CNBC also reported that the Interior Department responded to the letter by saying “What failure?” and included a link to an X post from the official White House account featuring four pictures of the reflecting pool reflecting the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial.
Costs, algae, and repairs
NBC News said the federal government has spent at least $14 million to refinish the pool, not including federal employee labor costs, and it reported that Trump estimated in April the cost would be between $1.5 million and $2 million while the project was projected to take one to two weeks. NBC News reported that as of Tuesday the project had taken more than 60 days, and it said a hot and humid June in Washington, D.C., produced an algae bloom shortly after refilling was completed.
NBC News added that another contractor was brought in to neutralize the green growth using nanobubble technology, which cut back some of the green growth but may have led to the new blue finish peeling off the bottom of the pool, and it said this cleanup effort cost an additional $1.7 million, bringing the total cost of the project to $16 million. The Washington Post said Democrats are pressing the Trump administration to explain why officials awarded no-bid contracts as part of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovations, with lawmakers asking whether the expedited process contributed to the pool’s algae bloom and the need for further repairs.