President Donald Trump said Friday that the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is continuing to fill with water, declaring that the landmark is “looking really good” and will be protected by anti-vandalism cameras.
The pool has become a recurring point of attention since Trump ordered it resurfaced in “American flag blue” ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations. The project has faced rising costs, algae issues, and damage to its freshly installed lining.
In a message posted to Truth Social in the early hours of Friday morning, Trump said the Reflecting Pool was 85 percent full, “and looking really good!”
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Trump added: “It hasn’t worked properly since 1922, but will now. We have cameras set up to stop any potential Vandalism, including the grassed areas, which were destroyed by chemical poisoning with a large, and very inappropriate, phrase. The grass was completely replaced!”
The president also included in his post an image the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall, with the Lincoln Memorial centered in the distance.
“President Trump promised to make D.C. safe and beautiful, and he’s delivering. For years, the Reflecting Pool sat neglected, plagued with algae, and leaking millions of gallons of water. Fixing it was common sense,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said in a statement provided to Newsweek on Friday. “It’s another example of President Trump restoring our nation’s capital for the American people.”
However, people visiting the area on Friday had conflicting opinions about the Reflecting Pool when interviewed by Newsweek.
One woman said she had not heard about the vandalism or debacle surrounding the pool this year but thought it looked “pretty.” Another woman told Newsweek she thought it “still looks like dirty water,” although she said she could see the reflection of the Washington Monument within it. A third woman told Newsweek she didn’t think the pool was reflective.
“I used to live here years ago, and I would run around the mall all the time and you would be able to see a perfect reflection, and you can only see the base now so no it’s not,” she said.
“It’s a little underwhelming, to be honest. It used to look much better to me, but I don’t really know what they’ve done or what they haven’t done or what’s been changed, so just, I’ve seen it on the news,” she added. “It was a big thing, and now being here, it just doesn’t look like it used to. It looks too dark, honestly.”
Cases Dropped
Trump earlier this week threatened any potential vandals with jail time, reviving a dispute over cause of damage to the pool’s lining. A judge dismissed a case against former Olympian canoeist David Hearn this month, and federal prosecutors previously moved to dismiss the case after records suggested that a flawed installation, rather than vandalism, were to blame for the damage.
Doug Buchanan, director of media and public relations for DC Courts, told Newsweek previously that he believed “there were three or four additional [vandalism] cases filed–but dismissed by the USAO/DC [U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia] before the cases made it to court.”
Trump also alleged this week that grass near the pool had been “scarred by poison” with the numbers “86 47”, and said the turf had since been replaced.
Algae, Peeling and Vandalism Claims
Trump announced renovations in April, ahead of celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of American independence. The project involved resurfacing the bottom of the pool with a blue coating Trump described as “American flag blue.”
NBC News reported that Trump initially estimated the work would cost between $1.5 million and $2 million and take one to two weeks, but that its cost subsequently rose to around $16 million.
Problems emerged shortly after the pool was refilled. Its water turned green amid an algae bloom, while sections of the newly installed coating began to peel. Footage published by Newsweek in June showed the water changing color soon after the refurbishment, despite the pool’s new blue finish. A further contract was later awarded for renovation and maintenance work intended to tackle the algae, Newsweek reported previously.
Trump has repeatedly attributed damage to vandals.
Federal prosecutors said in a motion to dismiss Hearn’s case that records obtained from the Interior Department documented repeated failures of the lining during its installation and extensive peeling across the pool. The filing also pointed to pressure to complete the project before July 4.
The Reflecting Pool has undergone major work before. A two-year reconstruction completed in 2012 addressed longstanding sinking and leakage, adding more than 2,000 supporting pilings and a circulation system drawing water from the nearby Tidal Basin, according to Histories of the National Mall.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here. Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Edward Pearcy and Matthew Robinson.