President Donald Trump has blamed vandalism for the troubles at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which has suffered peeling paint and green water amid a $14 million renovation. Without providing evidence, Trump claimed over the weekend that the pool was vandalized, and on Monday he doubled down, saying vandals used a knife to cut a long slit in the pool liner.
Trump's Vandalism Claims
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said the vandals “went in there with a knife.” He described a “290, 300-foot slit” across the pool, possibly made with a box cutter. “We have 100, and we have a, I think, 290, 300-foot slit right through it, probably a box cutter or a knife of some kind. We had people lifting up the basic, some of the bays. It’s not a lot of damage, but we’ll probably have to let the water out and re-fix it,” Trump said. He added that the National Park Service had arrested five people and was investigating five others.
Questioning the Explanation
CBS News senior White House correspondent Ed O’Keefe pressed Trump on how such damage could occur with National Guard troops patrolling the National Mall. Trump responded, “I mean, we didn’t have, we didn’t have a lot of them (National Guard) then. Who would think that somebody would go into a pool and take a knife and start cutting it?” When O’Keefe asked for proof, Trump said, “Well, let’s put it this way, when you have a 350, I think it’s 350, not 250, a 350-foot slit from one end to the other. You think that’s true?” He directed reporters to the National Park Service for evidence.
Algae Blooms and Fertilizer
Trump also claimed that vandals caused algae blooms by putting fertilizer in the water. “They put, somebody said, fertilizer in the water. If you put fertilizer in the water, you get algae, but somebody said they might have put fertilizer. They did something to create the algae, but that doesn’t matter because that’s been purified. It’s dead, laying at the bottom,” Trump said. However, National Park Service officials have stated that the algae is a natural occurrence due to warm weather and stagnant water.
Cost of Renovations
When O’Keefe questioned the cost of the renovations, noting Trump had claimed in April the project would be only $1 million, Trump deflected by criticizing his predecessor. “Okay. Ready. Barack Hussein Obama, have you ever heard of him?” Trump asked. He claimed Obama spent “over $100 million” on a renovation that “never even opened” because river water turned putrid. However, an Associated Press analysis found that Obama’s two-year renovation, completed in 2012, cost $34 million.
National Park Service Response
The National Park Service has not confirmed Trump’s vandalism claims. Photos from June 19-20 show workers using vacuums to clean algae from the pool, but no evidence of slits or fertilizer has been reported. The $14 million renovation, which began in 2020, includes repairs to the pool’s plumbing and liner.
