Donald Trump claimed on Sunday that the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was back “in full use” as he spent the day on a rainy tour of his D.C. beautification efforts around the nation’s capital.
Despite fencing around the structure and plans to drain and resurface it around the July 4 holiday, Trump wrote on Truth Social that the pool was working well, adding that the “criminally made algae is gone.”
“It never worked properly until last week and, right after July 4th, when we will drain the water to treat the damage caused by these ’animals,’ it will again be in perfect shape,” added the president.
His bizarre claim that the algae bloom, which has overtaken the pool after its high-profile renovation, was the result of criminal mischief comes as the Parks Service has asserted that the president was right about vandals cutting the liner coating the bottom of the pool with a knife or razor of some kind after its installation.
Plans to re-drain the Reflecting Pool and reinstall the blue coating on the bottom are just part of the reason why the project has surged past Trump’s initial cost estimates of $2 million.
open image in galleryThe administration is now estimating that it will cost $16 million to renovate the pool to stop leaks and achieve the new darker-blue look the president was hoping to see. The project has gone on for weeks as workers have dumped chemicals and worked daily to treat algae. At times, the pool has appeared lime green due to the algae, with chunks of separated blue coating and even dead ducklings visible in the water.
The president’s schedule on Sunday appeared to largely involve a tour of his various beautification projects around the District of Columbia. The sites he visited included Lafayette Park outside of the White House, the site of his “triumphal arch” planned for the grounds near Arlington National Cemetery, and East Potomac Golf Links, which Trump hopes to renovate into a championship golf course.
He did not appear to visit the grounds of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool directly, where fencing still restricts passersby from the area immediately surrounding the pool and the renovation project. Over the past week, National Guardsmen have been seen patrolling the area and signage on the fencing has indicated that the project will be completed July 4.
open image in gallery
open image in galleryThe actual date for the project’s completion is after the July 4 holiday, according to Trump.
The president has devoted significant focus to the Reflecting Pool itself in recent days, as media attention and the focus of city residents have increasingly fallen on the problem-plagued renovation efforts. The visuals of the pool at its dirtiest inspired ridicule and memes from D.C. residents and were mocked on Capitol Hill by Trump’s critics like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
His plans to build a European-style arch near Arlington National Cemetery have yet to be approved or funded by Congress, though the administration has shown a willingness to move other funds around to satisfy the president’s wishes as beautification efforts continue to be one of his top priorities. The president also plans to build a promenade down to the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial, another project awaiting congressional approval.
In his Truth Social post on Sunday, the president wrote that Lafayette Park near the White House had “not looked so good since its inception in 1820!” before going on an extended rant about the condition of the East Potomac Links golf course, which he vowed to refurbish to championship-tier quality.
“The grass is largely dead, the greens are virtually unplayable, and the Course is in very poor general condition […] after many years of horrendous maintenance,” Trump complained after visiting the course on Sunday.
He vowed: “We will build one of the Greatest Golf Courses anywhere in the World which, importantly, will also be made available to the Public. When completed, this Course will have the ability to host Major Golf Tournaments, including The U.S. Open, The Ryder Cup, The PGA Championship, and other top PGA Tour events.”