Wait for the inevitable law suit and injunction to issue
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$1.5 million vs $301,000,000, weeks instead of years: how un-Washingtonian!
AP: Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool gets a blue coating as Trump tackles renovation project
(Or as David Manney, PJMedia puts it):
Trump Restores a Landmark and Saves Millions
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is having the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool coated in a swimming pool surface hued in “American flag blue,” covering up a decades-old granite surface that he said was “leaking like a sieve” and would take years to replace.
The president announced the renovation at an Oval Office event Thursday, saying the coating had already begun. He was inspired to tackle the project after a friend visited from Germany and lamented that the water was filthy and looked disgusting, Trump said.
“And I went over there with Secret Service in tow, and I said, isn’t that a shame? That’s terrible,” Trump said, showing reporters a photo of the site as it undergoes work.
The project is one more makeover refashioning the nation’s capital to Trump’s liking, following others such as the demolition of the White House’s East Wing to make room for a new ballroom.
In Trump’s telling, the reflection pool project is a case study in business acumen. The president said he scrapped plans to have the granite replaced, which he said was estimated to cost $301 million and would take at least three years.
Instead, Trump said he called a few pool contractors he knows from past real estate projects — “I have a guy who’s unbelievable at doing swimming pools up the road,” Trump said.
The president went with a plan to clean the granite and lay down a new “industrial grade pool” surface for $1.5 million, he said. All told, it would take a few weeks. Trump noted it would be ready well before July 4, when the nation celebrates the 250th anniversary of its independence.
Trump brought up the project unprompted and spoke about it for several minutes at a White House event on efforts to reduce drug prices. He said he initially wanted a turquoise-colored surface “like in the Bahamas” but was sold when a contractor suggested “American flag blue.”
“You’re going to end up with a beautiful, beautiful reflecting pool,” Trump said, “the way it’s supposed to be, much better than it ever was.”
Manney:
As you can imagine, TDS hit critics who are pushing back, with some questioning the color. Others wonder about the method, yet none of those complaints change the basic outcome. The pool no longer leaks, keeping costs low, with a short timeline. Visitors will see a clean and functioning landmark instead of a worn and failing one.
Burgum has overseen the project through the Interior Department and has worked to keep it moving without delays. He's supported a practical approach that avoids construction and unnecessary spending, an approach that stands in contrast to the earlier proposal that would've drained hundreds of millions of dollars and tied up the site for an extended period.
Trump said U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum told him there have been "a lot of problems" with the pool, adding that it hasn't worked properly for "many years."
The president said the pool is "decaying" and plagued by leaks, adding that the renovation could be completed more quickly and at a lower cost than traditional reconstruction. He has framed the effort as part of a broader push to improve the appearance of Washington, D.C., and prepare for the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations.
"We scrubbed the existing granite that's been there since 1922," he said. "We then grouted all of the granite, fixed it it -- took about two weeks, and now we have a nice, clean surface on which we're putting an industrial-grade swimming pool topping. And they said, 'What color would you like, sir? It's called American Flag Blue.' I said, "That's the color I want. I want American Flag Blue.'"
Mamey:
Washington has seen plenty of projects stall, drag on, or balloon in cost, a pattern that has become familiar. Trump's approach breaks from that pattern by setting a goal, funding it, and completing it without unnecessary delay. The reflecting pool now stands as an example of how quickly a problem can be resolved when leadership chooses action over process.
The broader point reaches beyond a single landmark. Government often promises improvement and delivers paperwork. In this case, the work is visible, measurable, and complete within a short window.
The pool holds water, the surface looks clean, and the setting matches the importance of the memorial it serves.
While critics keep talking, renovations keep standing.
A bit of history here: They’ve been trying to fix it for decades
Originally built during the 1920’s—without any pilings to support it—the iconic pool had sunk about a foot.
This slow sinking caused significant cracking and leaking, which required the city to provide roughly 30 million gallons of water per year—nearly 600,000 gallons per week—just to replenish the loss. The Reflecting Pool, originally built with an asphalt and tile bottom, had deteriorated over the years, causing the pool to leak 500,000 gallons of water per week.
And seven years later: