Trump Announces Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool Renovation

President Donald Trump has revealed plans for a restoration project aimed at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. In a video message shared on social media, he discussed the poor condition of the pool, which has been around for over a century and is suffering from issues related to its original construction materials.

“I thought I’d cover a topic that’s interesting to me. I do a lot of things as president, and I try to save money, and one of those things is the reflecting pool at the Lincoln Memorial, which everyone knows about. That’s where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave a great speech,” Trump stated.

The reflecting pool, built in 1922, stretches nearly 2,000 feet in length and 167 feet in width. To put it in perspective, that makes it longer than One World Trade Center, the tallest building in the U.S. at 1,776 feet.

Trump criticized the materials used initially, mentioning they were “granite and a variety of stones.” He explained that these were not suitable for a structure intended to hold water for long periods.

During a trip to D.C. with a German friend, Trump remarked on how “terribly dirty” the water looked. His friend reportedly commented, “The water looks disgusting.” Trump agreed, believing it didn’t represent the nation well.

He himself visited the pool, accompanied by the Secret Service, and found it in dire need of repairs. “It was leaking like a sieve,” he noted. “We couldn’t hold water, we couldn’t hold anything.”

It’s worth mentioning that the Biden administration had also considered a renovation but didn’t see it through. The estimated cost for Trump’s plan to remove thousands of feet of granite is around $301 million, with a timeline of three to three-and-a-half years for completion, according to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.

In his video, Trump recalled a conversation where he suggested a better approach to the project. He emphasized that he called upon his contacts from the industry to offer a budget-friendly solution, which was estimated between $1.5 million and $2 million for a different method than previously planned.

Rather than completely replacing the original stone, Trump’s team executed a quicker fix, taking two weeks to scrub the existing stone, inject grout, and apply an “industrial pool topping” to prevent leaks.

When asked about the color for the pool’s bottom, Trump initially mentioned turquoise but shifted to “American flag blue” upon learning of it. “The difference is this is much better,” he pointed out, contrasting it with the past administration’s plan, which he argued would last decades.

He expressed enthusiasm over modern machines designed for material placement and robots that could clean the pool regularly. With the nation preparing for its 250th birthday celebration on July 4th, he emphasized a goal for completion by that date.

“Delivery by July 4th,” Trump affirmed, assuring it would be ready well ahead of the Independence Day celebrations.