Trump says memorial won’t be fixed by July 4 as contractor warns repairs will take 'weeks'
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A worker vacuums algae from the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 21, 2026. REUTERS/Aaron Schwartz
President Donald Trump's makeover campaign for Washington D.C. hit a major snag when the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool — which has been a part of the U.S. capital since the early 1920s — suffered from algae and cracking, peeling liner. Trump was hoping that the Reflecting Pool would be fully repaired in time for celebrations of the United States' 250th anniversary. But according to Politico's E&E News, Trump is now conceding that the repairs may not be finished before then.
In Politico/E&E, reporters Kinnia Cheuk and Heather Richards explain, "President Donald Trump's beloved Reflecting Pool liner — now peeling and cracked — won't be fixed before Independence Day celebrations, according to the California company that supplied the waterproof coating. That news will sink Trump's wish to have the pool looking pristine for celebrations of the nation's 250th birthday."
"The large areas of grass are being replaced. In any event, even prior to fixing those areas, the Reflecting Pool is as beautiful as it can be. We will drain some of the water, either immediately before or after the Fourth of July, to do the permanent repair," he added.
It was almost 250 years ago, on July 4, 1776, that the U.S. Declaration of Independence was signed at Independence Hall (then the Pennsylvania State House) in Philadelphia. Major America 250 celebrations are planned for Philly, Washington and other U.S. cities, but it appears doubtful that the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool will be fully repaired in time.
Franco.is Rivard, vice president of the California-based contractor Rhino Linings, told Politico, "It will not be before the celebrations, that's for sure. It would be up to (the National Park Service) to tell you exactly when they plan ... but it's in a matter of weeks, not years."
In a Sunday post on Truth Social, Trump wrote, that "work will begin immediately on fixing the seriously vandalized Reflecting Pool" — repeating his unproven claim that the Pool was the target of vandalism.
Trump added, "I just inspected it, and could only say to myself, and those gathered around me, wow, who would do such a thing? SICK, DERANGED PEOPLE! We will fix it[.]"
When Politico asked the Trump White House for a timeline on Reflecting Pool repairs, the official said the White House is "working to assess the extent of the damaged areas and will make the repairs as quickly as possible."
Rivard told Politico that the National Park Service and Atlantic Industrial Coatings are working to get the algae in the Reflecting Pool under control but said that larger repairs to the Pool's coating likely won't happen until after July 4 celebrations in D.C.
In 1922, when Republican Warren G. Harding was president, the Lincoln Memorial was opened on Washington D.C.'s National Mall in honor of President Abraham Lincoln (who had been assassinated in 1865). And for over 100 years, the Reflecting Pool has been among the attractions that tourists made a point of seeing when they're visiting the U.S. capital.
Cheuk and Heather Richards note, "Trump launched the pool's latest overhaul with a boast in April that he would install a commercial-grade swimming pool liner as a bargain solution to clean it up. Atlantic Industrial Coatings, which received the $14.7 million contract, employed Rhino Linings to apply the liner last month. Shortly after, an algae bloom spread across the massive, 340,000-square-foot pool's surface, leaving it a sickly green. After federal park managers began addressing the algae by vacuuming, scraping and treating the water with hydrogen peroxide, the liner itself began peeling away."