President Donald Trump is flip-flopping on the controversy of who he hired to renovate the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool — and a journalist has called him out on it.
“President Trump previously said he had personally chosen the contractor to fix the Reflecting Pool, because of the good work they did on his golf club's swimming pools,” The New York Times’ David A. Farenthold post on X. “Now, Trump says does not know them.”
Farenthold’s comment was posted after he and fellow New York Times journalist Maxine Joselow ran a Tuesday piecereporting that “Interior Dept. staffers have raised questions about the quality and speed of the work being done to repair the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, according to document seen by the NY Times.”
In the article, Farenthold and Joselow wrote that “the staff members said that bubbles and small holes had appeared in one of the layers meant to waterproof the iconic pool. And uneven application of the tinted waterproofing left the pool mottled in varying shades of blue, the documents indicate.”
He added, “The documents say both issues were being addressed, but they raise the possibility that the work may not be finished by the government’s deadline of May 22. That would be an ironic turn of events, given that federal bidding laws were skirted because the government had argued there was an urgent need — to have it ready for the country’s 250th anniversary celebrations.”
Regarding the accusation that Trump flip-flopped on his relationship with the business hired to renovate the reflecting pool, the New York Times reported that “last month, the Interior Department hired a Virginia firm, Atlantic Industrial Coatings, to repair, resurface and paint the pool. President Trump said publicly that he had recommended the firm because of good work it did on the swimming pools at one of his golf clubs.”
It added, “However, Mr. Trump did an about-face early Tuesday, distancing himself from the company. ‘I didn’t give out the contract, Interior did, to a contractor I did not know, and have never used before,’ Mr. Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform. Asked to explain Mr. Trump’s reversal, a White House official said that the president did not have a personal relationship with this contractor, but that as a private citizen and builder, he was familiar with the company’s previous work. The official asked not to be named to describe the president’s relationship with the company.”
The Times has not been able to confirm whether or not Trump had previously worked with the firm in question.
The president has, however, made it clear that he is upset about Farenthold’s reporting. Earlier this week, Trump attacked Farenthold for reporting that Trump plans on paying a contractor $13.1 million to renovate the reflecting pool, more than seven times as much as the $1.8 million figure Trump publicly stated would be required to build the pool.
"They squandered at least 55 million dollars haplessly trying, with no chance of success, to get the Reflecting Pool to work," Trump wrote without evidence. "Instead, they made it worse, keeping it closed for years, and ending up with a leaking, smelling, ode to both of their failed administrations. It was and embarrassment to Washington D.C., and to our country, itself. Despite the vast sums of money spent, they never got the pool to work, and cosmetically it was a total mess for all to see."
He then added, "Now, along comes 'TRUMP,' who is asked by many patriots if I can fix it. The answer is a resounding, YES, and for a 'tiny' fraction of the cost!"
Regarding Farenthold himself, Trump denounced the journalist as a “lowlife” for describing his renovations as a “paint job.”
"It is a deeply complicated work of smart and beautiful construction," Trump said. "It won't leak, it will shine, and be the pride of Washington D.C. for decades to come. I saved more than 390 Million Dollars, and 4 years of no 'mess,' and was, of course, given no credit by the biased New York Times."
Trump then added, "Also, I didn't give out the contract, Interior did, to a contractor I did not know, and have never used before."