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The president Donald Trump announced that the Reflecting Pool of the Lincoln Memorial will be coated with industrial-grade paint in the "American flag blue" shade, and confirmed that the work was already underway at the time of the announcement.
The project will cover the decades-old granite that currently lines the bottom of the pool, which was originally installed in 1923. According to CBS News, Trump explained that the initiative arose after a comment from a German friend who visited Washington and told him that the water looked dirty.
The president acknowledged that he initially wanted to paint it turquoise "like in the Bahamas," but a contractor suggested the blue of the American flag as a more appropriate alternative.
The cost of the coating is approximately 1.5 million dollars and the work is expected to be completed in about a week, aiming to have it ready before July 4, 2026, the date of the 250th anniversary of the independence of the United States.
Trump justified the decision also in economic terms: replacing the granite would have cost about 301 million dollars and taken at least three years, according to his own estimates.
The Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum, publicly supported the project by posting a photograph on X of a worker applying the blue coating with the Lincoln Memorial in the background, along with the message: "Renovations are underway! Thank you to the president for investing in our capital. The Reflecting Pool is about to look better than ever!".
The pool underwent a major renovation costing 34 million dollars in 2012, which included a new water supply system with ozone filtration, replacement of pathways, and lighting improvements. Since then, it had only received minor repairs and periodic cleanings to remove algae and debris.
This project is part of a series of renovation and construction works that the Trump administration is promoting in Washington D.C. in preparation for the 250th anniversary celebrations, known as America250.
Among these projects stands out the controversial renovation of the East Wing of the White House, which includes a $400 million state ballroom funded by private donors—including Meta, Apple, Google, and Amazon—and approved by the National Capital Planning Commission with a vote of eight to one on April 2.
The administration also announced the construction of a 250-foot tall Arch of Triumph —more than double the height of the Lincoln Memorial itself— situated between the Lincoln statue and Arlington Cemetery, featuring a winged victory figure at its pinnacle and golden lions at its base.
The Reflecting Pool, built in the 1920s and designed by Henry Bacon, measures 618 meters long and 51 meters wide, and is one of the most iconic sites in the U.S. capital: it was here that Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963.
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