Donald Trump promised his renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool could endure for a century. Instead, parts of the project are already being pulled apart by hand.
Video recorded Wednesday by photographer Joe Flood showed repair crews removing large pieces of loose blue sealant while pressure-washing the drained basin of one of Washington’s most famous landmarks.
The footage appeared to reveal just how badly the material had deteriorated. Workers could be seen lifting flaps of the blue coating with their bare hands, while additional fragments broke loose under the force of the water.
The images provided another embarrassing chapter in the troubled renovation of the historic reflecting pool—a project Trump once promoted as a lasting restoration of a neglected national monument.
The White House referred questions about the work to the Interior Department, which did not immediately provide a response to The Daily Beast.
Crews began the latest round of repairs last week after the pool was drained yet again. The basin’s blue liner had cracked and peeled only months after the renovation began, forcing officials to confront a problem that the president has repeatedly blamed on vandals.
Trump has claimed that individuals deliberately cut a gash hundreds of feet long through the new liner.
But that explanation has been challenged by an unlikely source: his own Justice Department.
Jeanine Pirro, Trump’s top federal prosecutor in Washington, dropped charges against former Olympic athlete David Hearn after prosecutors determined that the damage was more likely connected to a faulty installation by the contractor.
Federal prosecutors also dismissed misdemeanor charges against three other people who had been accused of damaging the pool.
The decision angered Trump, who publicly criticized Pirro and accused her of folding “like an umbrella.” He continued to insist on Truth Social that vandals had caused the most serious damage, while acknowledging that there may also have been problems with the contractor.
Even as prosecutors backed away from the vandalism allegations, newly installed signs around the fenced-off pool continued to describe the work as repairs to areas damaged by vandals.
The signs also blamed previous administrations for allegedly neglecting the landmark since its construction in 1922. They cited clogged pipes, dirty walkways and stained granite coping stones as evidence that earlier officials had failed to maintain the site properly.
According to the notices, the pool would remain empty until the work could restore the “beauty, dignity, and grandeur” of the nation’s capital.
Yet the latest footage may make that explanation more difficult to sustain.
Rather than showing isolated cuts consistent with deliberate vandalism, the video appeared to show broad areas of coating separating easily from the surface beneath them. That visual evidence aligns more closely with concerns about installation quality, although a definitive technical assessment has not been released publicly.
The same company responsible for the original renovation, Atlantic Industrial Coatings, has now been brought back to conduct the repairs.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum defended that decision, saying the contractor had done a “fantastic job.” The administration did not seek new bids before allowing the company to return.
Work on the pool has continued intermittently since June, when Trump’s plan to coat the basin in a shade described as “American Flag Blue” was introduced as a dramatic improvement.
The results have not matched the promise.
In addition to the cracked and peeling liner, the renovation was followed by one of the pool’s largest algae blooms in years. Instead of presenting the polished blue appearance envisioned by the administration, the water developed an unappealing green tint.
Now the pool is empty again, construction barriers surround the attraction, and visitors are being greeted by signs explaining why one of Washington’s most photographed landmarks cannot currently fulfill its basic purpose.
The controversy has grown beyond a routine maintenance dispute because Trump personally attached his name and reputation to the project. He presented the renovation as evidence that his administration could restore an iconic public space that others had supposedly allowed to deteriorate.
His prediction that the work might survive for 100 years made the rapid failure even more conspicuous.
The administration continues to emphasize vandalism and historical neglect. Prosecutors, however, have cited evidence pointing toward a botched installation, while the newest video shows workers peeling away chunks of the supposedly durable coating with little apparent difficulty.
For a project intended to reflect the grandeur of Trump’s Washington, the drained pool is now reflecting something considerably less flattering: a grand promise that began falling apart almost as soon as the paint dried.
