Trump’s Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool Renovation Restores Water Flow After “American Flag Blue” Paint

Water began flowing back into the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Thursday after President Donald Trump’s renovation, which included repainting the pool’s floor in a shade he calls "American flag blue."

NBC4 Washington said Trump discussed a separate project on Thursday: building a promenade that would extend from the Lincoln Memorial to the Potomac River, as the Reflecting Pool filled back up with water on Friday.

ABC News

In the Oval Office, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the idea for a promenade has a history, pointing to "The McMillan Plan" that envisioned a connection for the National Mall.

Trump also claimed the promenade "never got built" because "they built two roadways behind it," and he said it shut off the gateway to the water.

The BBC reported that after weeks of renovation, water began flowing back into the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and that Trump launched the project in early April, including resurfacing the pool, addressing leaks, and painting it "American flag blue."

Trump dismissed criticism that the Reflecting Pool renovation was merely a “paint job,” posting on Truth Social that "This was not a paint job."

The Hill reported that Trump said the project’s roughly $13.1 million cost was funded in part by National Park Service entrance fees, while the Cultural Landscape Foundation sued the administration in federal district court.

BBC

NPR described how visitors watched the refilling and said they couldn’t immediately tell a difference in the color, with Luisa Córdoba saying, "I'm just happy it's not that bright blue that we saw the first days."

NPR also quoted Trump telling reporters in the Oval office that "the pool gets completed at 4 o'clock and the water will start to flow in … and it's going to be beautiful," while Interior Secretary Doug Burgum shared a video of water bubbling up through a grate.

The BBC said Trump initially said the project would cost $2m, but it is now expected to cost $13.1m, federal records showing, as Americans reacted to the completed paint job.

As the Reflecting Pool refilled, the dispute over funding and historic preservation continued, with NPR noting the nonprofit Cultural Landscape Foundation sued in mid-May to stop work on the pool over bypassed historic preservation reviews.

“After weeks of renovation, water has begun flowing back into the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool”

BBC

WTOP said the pool is expected to be refilled no later than Sunday, according to a court filing from U.S. Department of the Interior attorneys, after work to resurface the reflecting pool was completed Wednesday.

The Hill reported that the Cultural Landscape Foundation’s lawsuit alleged the blue paint altered the site’s character without the proper authority, and it quoted the lawsuit language that "The dark grey, achromatic basin was not incidental to the design. It was the design."

NBC4 Washington said Trump’s name still appeared above President John F. Kennedy’s at the Kennedy Center despite a federal judge’s ruling that it must come down soon, and it said a judge ordered a temporary halt to Trump shutting it down for the next two years.

In the Oval Office, Trump also said the promenade would connect the Lincoln Memorial to the Potomac River, while Burgum tied the idea to the McMillan Plan that designed the National Mall as it is today.