President Donald Trump went on a Truth Social blitz about the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Sunday and Monday, portraying his signature renovation project as nearly complete, even as costs have ballooned by millions of dollars and officials still need to drain the pool to fix cracks in its newly redone surface.
The images included happy-looking visitors standing around the pool, National Guard troopers staring into the water, and a side-by-side image comparing the Republican’s renovation to the Obama administration’s job. Both presidents have battled algae blooms at the pool.
The president’s posting spree included a Sunday update on the pool from Interior Department official Gregory Wischer. The notice claimed the water in the pool was now “crystal clear” because “advanced nanobubbler technology very effectively killed the algae that has plagued every Lincoln Reflecting Pool reopening.”
All that remained, the update went on, was “vacuuming up the dead algae resting on the bottom of some parts of the Reflecting Pool — just like the destroyed Iranian Navy resting on the bottom of the Persian Gulf.”
This would be done “in a few days,” Wischer wrote.
Last month, the president blamed “criminally made algae” for the problems, rather than mechanical issues.
During his Truth Social blitz, Trump also shared an op-ed from a Republican senator praising efforts to promote “beautiful” government architecture, plus a video from conspiracy theorist and far-right activist Jack Posobiec as he visited the Reflecting Pool with his family.
Despite the president’s efforts to have the monument ready for the Fourth of July, there is still work to do.
The pool will need to be drained for the second time this year to repair cracks and gaps in its newly redone bottom surface, according to officials. The president claims vandals cut gashes hundreds of feet long into the bottom of the pool.
The Interior Department has only released grainy video showing people dipping their hands into the water’s edge.
Seven people have been arrested on allegations of attempting to tamper with the pool.
Former Olympian David Hearn, who was has been charged with destruction of property, claims he is being falsely accused of a crime after stopping to inspect damage at the pool.
His lawyers told The Associated Press he is the victim “the misuse of government power against an ordinary citizen based on a concocted narrative.”
Democratic members of Congress are investigating the roughly $16 million renovation project, for which the Trump administration awarded two no-bid contracts, one of which federal officials reportedly flagged for “excessive” profit margins” and “inflated overhead.”
Despite the issues, the Trump administration plans to stick with its existing contractors, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said over the weekend.
Experts have warned that problems will persist unless longer-term repairs are made to the leaky plumbing system connecting the monument to a water treatment plant.
“It’s almost impossible to maintain the water level that is required to make the pool reflective,” Kym Hall, a former National Capital Area director for the National Park Service, told The New York Times in May. “It’s like pouring water into a colander.”
