Administration

Trump golf resort manager advising on reflecting pool project

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by Sarah Davis - 05/19/26 6:32 PM ET

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by Sarah Davis - 05/19/26 6:32 PM ET

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A manager of one of President Trump’s golf courses has served as an unofficial adviser on the renovations to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, an Interior Department spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday.

David Schutzenhofer helped recruit Greenwater Services for a $1.7 million no-bid contract with the Trump administration to install a permanent purification system in the pool, The New York Times reported.

Schutzenhofer has served as general manager of the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster for nearly 20 years, according to his social media profile. He is also an adjunct professor in hospitality and tourism at Montclair State University’s Feliciano School of Business.

He has a master’s from New York University in hospitality and tourism and has no known background in engineering or architecture.

A spokesperson for the Interior Department told The Hill on Tuesday that Schutzenhofer is acting in an unofficial capacity on this project.

“Mr. Schutzenhofer is unpaid and is volunteering his time to offer suggestions on this project because he is an American Patriot,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “To insinuate he is directing government contracts or acting as a federal employee is categorically false.”

The Hill has reached out to Schutzenhofer and the golf club for comment.

The Trump administration also awarded Atlantic Industrial Coatings a $13.1 million no-bid contract to waterproof and tint the pool’s base with an “American flag blue” color.

The project has now exceeded Trump’s initial budget estimate. The president previously told reporters that the renovations would only cost $1.8 million.

Trump said in a Truth Social post last week that the project is expected to be finalized by Independence Day.

“I’ve made this a much larger job than originally contemplated for purposes of Beauty, and a much longer life,” he wrote in the post. “Also, went to a higher quality sealer with more reflectivity.”

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