The president blamed “disgraceful Vandalism” for the damage and peeling paint, which emerged after workers spent days treating algae.
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President Donald Trump said Saturday night that he was likely to drain the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pool again, as workers contend with paint peeling off its surface and algae blooming in the wake of his $14 million effort to resurface it.
The president made his announcement, after what he said was a meeting with contractors while he was at Camp David in Maryland for the weekend. It comes 16 days after the government began refilling the pool following a renovation that Trump had said would result in clean water and “could last for 100 years.”
Since pieces of peeling paint started floating to the water’s surface earlier this week, the Interior Department has not responded to questions about the paint and why the pool surface is separating.
The agency said in a statement Wednesday that it is treating the pool with hydrogen peroxide and “high-tech nanobubble ozone technology” to limit the spread of algae.
“We met with contractors today, will probably be forced to release and drain much of the water in order to do the necessary repairs, but will have them done as quickly as possible,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Saturday evening.
The president spent the weekend at Camp David with senior advisers, as Iran said it has once again closed the Strait of Hormuz, testing the fragile ceasefire in place with the United States.
Trump blamed the damage on “disgraceful Vandalism,” an accusation he also made earlier this week. “Many additional people” were arrested, he said.
The U.S. Park Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the number of arrests.
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The Park Police patrolling the Lincoln Memorial area on Friday afternoon observed an individual peeling paint from the pool, a spokesperson for the department said via email. The person was arrested on charges of destruction of government property.
The Washington Post later identified the person as three-time Olympian David Hearn. In an interview with The Post, Hearn said he reached in the water after he noticed a piece of paint partially detached from the pool bottom. He said he did not damage government property or “vandalize anything.”
Trump also said that vandals “took some form of knife or blade, and put a 250 foot long gash into the beautiful facade.” He also claimed they poured corrosive and destructive chemicals into the Reflecting Pool. The Post could not immediately verify those allegations.
Pool experts’ explanations for the damage to the surface diverged from the president’s account. Steve Goodale, a swimming-pool expert who viewed footage of the peeled sheet of paint on Thursday, said he believes the pool’s surface may have been improperly prepared for treatment.
“If there are any deficiencies with the surface prep, the surface can fail just like you see here,” he said via email, “sheets and chunks peeling off.”
Another culprit, he added, could be groundwater or pool water seeping underneath the lining.
“The lining product is extremely tough and durable,” said Goodale. “It would take a specific failure or deficiency to fail like we’re potentially seeing” in the Reflecting Pool.
Maintenance of the Reflecting Pool has been a challenge for decades. Trump’s resurfacing effort was part of his initiative to beautify Washington as his administration plans a host of events to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding. One of the flagship events, the Great American State Fair, is scheduled to open blocks from the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall on Thursday.
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