From bringing in his “gold guy” to gaudy up the Oval Office to demolishing the East Wing to stage a ballroom, Donald Trump has been preoccupied in his second term with renovation. Earlier this year he set his sights on the DC Reflecting Pool, awarding a no bid contract to his “pool guy” — who looks less like a pool contractor and more like the Hamburglar’s crooked attorney — in part because Trump likes to keep it in the family, and partly because no reputable pool lining company would agree to Trump’s demand that the work be completed by July 4. So Trump stuck with HIS guy and said “We’re painting the pool ‘American Flag Blue!’” and that the renovations would only cost $1.5 million and would last a CENTURY!

So of course, the project is actually up to around $16 million and the pool couldn’t stay open for a full month before everything that reputable contractors said would happen under a crunched deadline, happened. Green algae bloomed and completely masked the “American Flag Blue” lining, and then that brand new lining started peeling up and down the pool. After insisting on the rushed deadline, the DC Reflecting Pool spent the entire July 4 holiday fenced off. This week the repairs to the renovation work picked up with draining the pool once more, and wouldn’t you know, the lining isn’t even blue anymore.

The newly drained Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool’s bottom surface has noticeably faded since it was lined with a protective coating in a color Donald Trump called “American flag blue” this spring.

An Associated Press reporter and photographer viewed the fenced-off reflecting pool on Wednesday from the top of the Washington Monument. The new liner appears grayer than when the pool was repainted and refilled with water in early June. Debris that had been visible earlier this week after the pool was drained is now largely gone, after work crews removed it.

Trump’s problem-plagued effort to revamp the landmark has stretched well past his initial goal of having the reflecting pool ready by 4 July for the nation’s 250th birthday.

The president at first suggested his renovations would cost $1.5m, but the bill ballooned to more than $16m by June.

Trump has said the repairs would last a century, but within days of the project’s initial completion last month, the water was beset by an algae bloom and pieces of the new coating appeared to be peeling off the bottom.

Ohio-based Green Water Solutions, also known as Greenwater Services, was given a $1.7m contract to install a water-purification system in the reflecting pool, while Virginia-based Atlantic Industrial Coatings was awarded $14.7m to repaint and waterproof the pool’s concrete floor.

Trump has repeatedly blamed vandals for the peeling paint, though critics allege it is the result of shoddy repair work.

Trump has said, without citing evidence, that vandals made a “350-foot gash” in the liner and caused other problems. No large slash marks were immediately visible on Wednesday from the Washington Monument view. It was not possible to make a more up-close inspection of the entire pool due to a dark fence surrounding the perimeter.

The interior secretary, Doug Burgum, whose agency oversees the National Park Service, said that after the water is drained and debris is cleaned from Independence Day fireworks, the plan for the pool is straightforward: “Repair the vandalism that was done. Fill it back up again.” He was speaking with conservative podcaster Katie Miller.

[From The Guardian]

Elect a clown, expect a circus of workers who only deal in garish paint that washes off quickly. While totally asinine, the “It was vandals!” deflection is well within Trump’s wheelhouse. As is making increasingly ludicrous claims without any consequences; every time Trump mentions that (fictional) gash in the lining, the thing grows in size. 250 feet to 300 to 350 and, at the beginning of this week, Dementia Don called it 350 YARDS. Oh, and you know how the article pointed out that “no slash marks were immediately visible” after the draining this week? Well, funny story, guess what is visible? Tire marks, like from a presidential motorcade driving across a freshly painted pool floor in May. Arrest the VANDAL!! (The real one, this time.)

I can now personally attest to the horrible condition of the Reflecting Pool. My God.

[image or embed]

— Jenny Cohn (@jennycohn.bsky.social) July 15, 2026 at 12:58 AM

Just flew over the empty reflecting pool.

[image or embed]

— Mike Masnick (@masnick.com) July 15, 2026 at 6:13 PM