Trump's administration won't seek new bids to repair the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool
Source: AP
Updated 11:35 AM EDT, July 5, 2026
NEW YORK (AP) The Trump administration will not seek new bids to repair the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Sunday as he faced new questions about the troubled project and the taxpayer money involved.
Like President Donald Trump, Burgum said he was 100% sure that vandals caused the damage to the century-old Reflecting Pool on the National Mall. Trump has charged that a 350-foot gash was cut into the pools liner in the midst of recent renovations, while Burgum described it as multiple cuts adding up to that figure. He also said the pool would have to be at least partially drained in the coming week to finish the repairs. The repairs will not be opened up to new contractors, he said.
Well use the same company, because they did a fantastic job, Burgum told CNNs State of the Union. Thankfully, the vandalism was small. It was bad. I mean, it could cost tens of thousands of dollars to repair, so then it could fall into a felony ... just like damaging any other government property could. But the job that was done to fix the Reflecting Pool was done extremely well.
Trump this spring pledged to beautify the Reflecting Pool before the nations 250th birthday celebrations on July Fourth. Water was drained and the Republican president directed that the bottom be painted a color he called American flag blue. But after the site was restored, the water was plagued by an algae bloom for more than a week, and pieces of the new coating have appeared to be peeling off the bottom.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/reflecting-pool-vandals-damage-trump-burgum-repairs-105349d6ef71cbab6582d89abf6e7aec
Well I guess there was a change in plans.
REFERENCE - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143689322
sinkingfeeling
(58,306 posts)newdeal2
(5,685 posts)He's only interested in his monuments like the ballroom and arch.
Ritabert
(2,888 posts)republianmushroom
(22,951 posts)Ritabert
(2,888 posts)pat_k
(14,607 posts)Can't put my hand on the article, but someone with the firm said they hadn't done work at the club -- sounded like another crony was like "I gotta guy" and trump touted knowing them when he didn't
Ritabert
(2,888 posts)More grift?
pat_k
(14,607 posts)I poked around. The confusion is that there were two companies involved. Atlantic Industrial Coatings, the people who actually did the botched coating, never worked on anything in Mat-a-lago. Apparently, there were statements from the felon that they did. I'm guessing the psycho is, at best, confused about who actually did the work, or more likely was just lying about a prior relationship. But it was Atlantic that got the no bid contract exceeding $14.7 million to repaint and waterproof
His buddy and big donor -- the palm beach connection -- is the nano-bubbler company, Greenwater.
The Madcap
(2,211 posts)"Soitantly."
Bayard
(30,780 posts)Nobody vandalized it--it was bungled by an incompetent contractor, and president for choosing him. Now, he's going to have the same idiot do it again, no doubt for twice our tax money. The same thing will happen, and trump will just keep paying to redo it out of National Park funding.
LiberalLovinLug
(14,785 posts)But he's a worshipper of the almighty orange dotard so instead, he doubles his profit from the taxpayers
dem4decades
(14,724 posts)The trials for the vandals should be interesting, I wonder if the government will allow the defense to hire its own witnesses to study the damage.
underpants
(197,981 posts)Get a team of experts engineers etc and coke up with one long term plan.
Trump doesnt want to rebid it out because hed think people would think hed been wrong.
pat_k
(14,607 posts)Cohn taught him well
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/09/19/roy-cohn-donald-trump-documentary-228144
. . Cohn imparted an M.O. thats been on searing display throughout Trumps ascent, his divisive, captivating campaign, and his fraught, unprecedented presidency. Deflect and distract, never give in, never admit fault, lie and attack, lie and attack, publicity no matter what, win no matter what, all underpinned by a deep, prove-me-wrong belief in the power of chaos and fear.
. . .
He has no other "playbook."
And I think it's wearing thin even with the brainwashed.
Ponietz
(4,699 posts)While everyone joked and made fun, only a few were able to surmise this fiasco was intentional. Theyre saying: game over and the People lost.
Blues Heron
(9,171 posts)Ritabert
(2,888 posts)dem4decades
(14,724 posts)Vinca
(54,614 posts)properly to allow a coating to adhere. I don't see how they could possibly have drained it, cleaned it, let it dry completely, prepared it to take a primer, primed it, allowed it to dry and put the top coating on and allowed that to dry thoroughly. They rushed a job to fit into the king's 250th schedule and it flopped.
The process which you mentioned is in essence correct. There are a couple of minor things. If the primer was moisture tolerant then waiting for the substrate to be dry would not be necessary. No water should be standing on the surface but there can be water in the substrate prior to the lining application. The second thing is the use of a hybrid polyurea/urethane as the liner. These materials set quickly and generally exhibit fast return to service.
Vinca
(54,614 posts)Why else would the coating suddenly lift and start breaking into chunks and floating to the surface?
lonely bird
(3,135 posts)Also, if the material was off ratio it would cause issues.
Offal in the Oval driving on the surface didnt help.
The entire project was, imo, rushed. Was there actually a specification? Was the specification followed? Was there third party inspection?
pat_k
(14,607 posts)Degrades in sunlight.
Little pores ideal for algae growth.
Problematic expansion joints.
Not to mention the dark color adding heat, giving algae a boost?
liberalgunwilltravel
(1,317 posts)Lardass had his motorcade, including the 10 ton "Beast" drive over the uncured surface so Lardass could "inspect" the work.
Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(139,115 posts)mdbl
(9,043 posts)Why would anyone expect them to do it right for a change?
pat_k
(14,607 posts)So small it's undetectable!!
They really think they'll be able to pull off this absurd lie???
uppityperson
(116,050 posts)pat_k
(14,607 posts)Minimizing because he knows it's bullshit. Maximizing because anything less would put him in the felon's sights.
Being a corrupt weasel is a tough job.
Ritabert
(2,888 posts)Before they painted the concrete slabs Tidy-bowl blue you couldn't see it because slabs and trench were concrete colored. Now it's obvious especially on aerial view.
pat_k
(14,607 posts)They don't state it, but it seemed pretty clear that these "cuts" were incidental and probably happened as part of the renovation.
And perhaps weren't "cuts" at all. I understand that settling of concrete slabs, movement, and expansion joint failures and leakage has been a problem all along. Doesn't strike me that a coating could solve that.
Hell, the thing was installed on marshland and reclaimed tidal mud flats. The ground beneath it is unstable silt, which has caused the pool to continuously sink and leak since it was completed in the 1920s
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/25/reflecting-pool-national-park-service
ananda
(35,898 posts)as it is to be better.
If he makes Lincoln look bad, fine..
as long as he looks better.
IcyPeas
(26,009 posts)Ummm??
The Capitol...
The East Wing.....
Never mind. I can't take this shit anymore - never any pushback.
Trumpf is the only felon causing damage.