Trump’s Reflecting Pool Hit With New Disaster
Trump’s boasts about the D.C. landmark do not stand up to scrutiny.
Nathan Howard/REUTERS
Donald Trump’s latest boasts about his “beautiful” reflecting pool have proven to be as hollow as his appeal to voters.
The 80-year-old president chose the refurbished Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool as the venue on Monday for his closing pitch to voters before Tuesday’s midterm elections, at which his party suffered a humiliating defeat.
Instead of talking about the real issues—gas prices or his war on Iran—Trump spent the first 22 minutes talking about the multimillion-dollar refurbishment of the D.C. landmark. He stood by a sign proclaiming: “Back, and more beautiful than ever!”
"Back, and more beautiful than ever!" a placard read.
Evan Vucci/REUTERS
The president joked about naming the landmark after himself and repeated his baseless claims that the repair work he ordered had been vandalized, before bragging that the pool had been finished with “the strongest coating you can get.”
But according to the Washington Post, the refilled pool is already springing fresh leaks—with cracks, peeling patches and blotchy blue paint emerging.
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Post reporters who examined the pool after Trump’s speech spotted at least 20 areas where the coating was visibly uneven, with pale blue streaks interrupting the uniform “American flag blue” Trump had promised.
The discolored patches were concentrated along the pool’s southwestern edge, close to the Lincoln Memorial, where workers recently repaired sections of the perimeter expansion joint.
Other parts of the basin appeared similarly troubled. Reporters identified at least 10 spots where the lining seemed to be lifting or separating, along with bumps, repair marks and a narrow gap exposing red tape beneath the surface.
The latest defects have raised fresh questions about whether the administration’s second attempt to repair the pool has actually solved the underlying problems.
Two people familiar with the situation told the Post that the National Park Service was aware last week of inconsistent coloring in sections that had already undergone repairs. The precise cause of the new flaws was not immediately established.
This was the deep green state of the algae-ridden Reflecting Pool.
Annabelle Gordon/REUTERS
The White House, however, offered a more reassuring explanation. A spokesperson attributed the lighter patches to “surplus coating,” telling the Post the discoloration would either fade or be scrubbed away to reveal the intended blue beneath.
As for photographs showing apparent cracks and peeling, the spokesperson dismissed them as leftover material and damage requiring repairs because of “deranged vandalism.”
“Thanks to President Trump, the pool is clear, clean, leak-proof, and reflects the iconic scenery that surrounds this magical place,” the spokesperson said.
The body of a dead baby duck floats in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
Aaron Schwartz/REUTERS
That confident assessment stands in stark contrast to a 75-page inspection report obtained by the Post last month, which documented extensive failures in the coating installed over the summer. Inspectors recorded peeling, bubbling and buckling across multiple sections of the basin.
The report suggested the rushed timetable may have contributed to the damage. Contractors were reportedly still applying the coating just one day before the pool was refilled on June 4, despite the material requiring 72 hours to cure.
The water is back... and what's that on the surface? Trump's Reflecting Pool fiasco seems far from over.
Sarah Ewall-Wice/The Daily Beast
The work had been accelerated to ensure the pool was ready for celebrations marking America’s 250th anniversary.
Trump first announced the overhaul in April, promising to eliminate the basin’s persistent algae problem by covering its more than 300,000-square-foot surface in “American Flag Blue.” The pool was initially coated with a lighter blue primer and refilled in June, but within days an enormous algae bloom turned the water green.
Blue flakes soon began floating across the surface, prompting officials to experiment with hydrogen peroxide. At least three dead ducklings were subsequently discovered in the water.
The administration blamed vandalism for the coating failures. In July, prosecutors charged four people accused of damaging the liner, including former Olympic canoeist David Hearn.
Those charges were later dismissed. In a 20-page motion, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro acknowledged prosecutors would not have indicted Hearn had they known contractor errors were responsible for the damage.
After the pool was drained following the July Fourth celebrations, inspectors uncovered 88 additional instances of damage. Their report identified several possible causes, including an inflexible coating, poor application and inadequate drying time. Perimeter caulking had also come loose after being submerged before it had fully cured.
The basin was drained, repaired and refilled once again in October.
Still, Trump remains convinced the project has transformed the pool.
“It’s a work of art in many ways,” he previously declared, “but it was a work of art that never worked. But now it will work.”
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