Trump’s bodge-job refurb of the reflecting pool at the Lincoln memorial has become the focus of ridicule in Washington this week
Donald Trump blamed “real problems” with his botched $14 million makeover of a beloved landmark on “vandals” – without providing any evidence.
Trump’s bodge-job refurb of the reflecting pool at the Lincoln memorial has become the focus of ridicule in Washington this week. Earlier this year he cancelled a planned renovation of the landmark – the location of Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech – which would have taken three years and cost $300m.
Instead he said he had handed the work to firms that maintained swimming pools in his hotels, who were to resurface the bottom of the pool in “American Flag Blue”. After re-opening five weeks late, with costs ten times higher than Trump initially promised, the water almost immediately turned a swampy green colour as algae invaded the water.
The source of the algae has not been confirmed, but it’s been speculated there was residual algae left in the pipes from before the cleaning, which rapidly multiplied in the hot Washington DC weather. The pool has a filtration system, but it’s not clear whether repairs to that system were included in the current renovation. Later in the week, a section of the resurfacing began to peel off and flap about in the wind at the surface of the water.
There is no indication that this peeling was caused by vandals – although some tourists have begun to tear strips off it for souvenirs. The Mirror found several scraps of the surfacing material on a grassy verge near the damaged section.
Trump has a long history of overpromising, corner-cutting and failure in major building and renovation projects, none of which has been down to vandalism. Last week, some vandalism did take place on a grassy area on the far side of the Washington monument, where overnight a group of unidentified people used chemicals to etch “86 47” (86 being restaurant slang for “get rid of” and 47 referring to Trump, the 47th President) into the lawn.
But there’s no suggestion this or the people involved are linked to the “real problems” with the reflecting pool. Trump posted on Truth Social: “We’ve had some real problems with Vandalism at the beautiful Reflecting Pool, which sits between The Washington Monument and The Lincoln Memorial. Just like three days ago, they destroyed the grass outside of the Pool, they’ve also done everything possible to hurt the inside surface that was just installed.
“No different than the chemicals that were used on the National Mall, they used something similar in the Reflecting Pool to try to destroy and demean our beautiful work. Lightweight ABC Reporter, Jonathan Karl, was seen sticking his hand into the Pool, and trying to rip the rubber off of the surface.”
This is untrue. While a video did show Mr Karl grabbing the surfacing material, it had already peeled off and was floating at the surface. He did not try to “rip” anything off.
He went on: “The algae is 75% gone, and the condition will soon be completely remedied, and the area that was vandalised, fortunately, is just a small area of damage, and will be fixed early next week.
“It’s a shame that the Radical Left Lunatics, most likely Dumocats, who have spent their lives trying to ruin our Country, are free to do so. Law Enforcement is actively investigating this situation, and will hopefully have it resolved soon. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
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