Administration

Reflecting pool latest flashpoint in Trump’s efforts to refashion DC

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by Sophie Brams - 05/12/26 12:01 PM ET

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by Sophie Brams - 05/12/26 12:01 PM ET

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The ongoing renovations to the reflecting pool on the National Mall have emerged as the latest flashpoint in President Trump’s effort to overhaul some of the most recognizable landmarks in the nation’s capital.

Trump announced plans to repair and renovate the 2,028-foot reflecting pool at the base of the Lincoln Memorial during an unrelated event in the Oval Office last month, describing its current condition as “terrible” and “filthy.”

He claimed the project, which includes waterproofing the pool’s bottom, mending leaking joints and repainting it “American flag blue,” could be completed for less than $2 million and in time for the nation’s 250th anniversary on July 4.

“It never had the color people wanted, but now it’s going to have the great color,” Trump said after making an unannounced trip to the construction site last week with some of his Cabinet members, including Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.

The New York Times reported on Monday, however, that the actual cost is more than seven times Trump’s estimate, citing federal records that showed the Interior Department nearly doubled the size of its contract late last week.

The department added $6.2 million to its contract with Atlantic Industrial Coatings — a Virginia firm that Trump said worked on swimming pools at his National Golf Club in Sterling, Va. — raising the cost to $13.1 million, according to the newspaper.

“The contract price reflects the effort necessary to expedite the timeline of completing the leak prevention coating project—more people, more materials, more equipment and longer hours ahead of our 250th,” an Interior Department spokesperson told The Hill on Monday.

The contract was awarded in a no-bid process last month, with the Trump administration bypassing a requirement to seek competing offers by invoking an exemption reserved for urgent situations, the Times reported.

Trump railed against the outlet in an early Tuesday morning post on Truth Social, again insisting the project was coming in under the budget and timeline outlined by prior administrations.

“It won’t leak, it will shine, and be the pride of Washington D.C. for decades to come,” the president wrote. “I saved more than 390 Million Dollars, and 4 years of no ‘mess,’ and was, of course, given no credit by the biased New York Times.”

The pool has stood between the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument since the early 1920s, becoming a backdrop for some of the nation’s most infamous marches, political speeches and presidential inaugurations. It is approximately the length of 12 Olympic-sized swimming pools and holds 6,750,000 gallons of water.

The pool was installed on top of marshland and has undergone major repairs over the years to try to keep it from sinking and leaking, including in the 1980s when concrete was poured into the bottom.

The pool again underwent a $34-million overhaul between 2010 and 2012 during former President Obama’s administration, which included decreasing its depth by about 6 inches. Nearly all of the original structure was torn out during the renovations, which also saw a circulation and filtration system added to clean the water and a new tinted bottom to improve reflectivity, according to History.com.

But problems persisted, and the National Park Service is now tasked with regularly draining and cleaning the water of algae, animal waste and debris.

“They squandered at least 55 Million Dollars haplessly trying, with no chance of success, to get the Reflecting Pool to work,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Instead, they made it worse, keeping it closed for years, and ending up with a leaking, smelling, ode to both of their failed Administrations.”

Trump has framed the overhaul as far more comprehensive than “just a paint job,” but the plans have drawn criticism from preservation groups who are seeking to block the construction from moving forward.

The Cultural Landscape Foundation and its founder, Charles Birnbaum, filed a lawsuit on Monday, arguing the administration has violated the law by bypassing federal statutes that require agencies to engage in a consultation process before making changes to historic properties.

The filing alleges specifically that the administration has run afoul of the National Historic Preservation Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.

“Shockingly, Defendants started altering the historic character of the Reflecting Pool without following Congressionally mandatory procedure,” the complaint states.