‘It’s not supposed to look like you’re going to dive in’: Historians criticize Trump’s Reflecting Pool makeover as group sues

Workers with boots dyed an “American Flag Blue” have painted over about two-thirds of the iconic Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, covering the dull gray with bright azure following a directive by U.S. President Donald Trump to expedite the pace of the project.

Trump earlier this month laid out a timeline that put the project on track to be done this week. However, workers on the ground told CNN recently that they need another month until they are finished, and Trump said Saturday it “should be completed” by July 4, ahead of the U.S.’ 250th birthday.

Time has quickly become one of the most essential factors in this project — one of many in Washington, DC, where Trump is racing to put his stamp on the nation’s capital.

As Trump is charging forward with overhauling the Reflecting Pool, controversy and derision have intensified, bringing a lawsuit that threatens to stop the project mid-paint job, potentially leaving the 2,800-foot pool on the National Mall only partially painted in the blue color he chose.

That court fight is coming to a head this week, when a judge will decide whether to issue an injunction sought by a DC nonprofit.

Trump has disparaged the state of the Reflecting Pool, saying it is feces-infested and in disrepair. He has zeroed in on the color, which he claims no one likes. And he contends that previous administrations failed to repair leaks and other problems.

But critics fear the Reflecting Pool will look more like a swimming pool, with the shine of a country club, like the president’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. They also contend the administration is skipping required reviews that must be completed before work gets underway — and that the pool will actually be less reflective.

Trump posted images Saturday of a “sample test” at the Reflecting Pool, showing the painted pool with a small amount of water.

Trump painting over history: critics

For historians, the new blue paint is more than just a bold aesthetic choice they are simply not fond of — many view the move as Trump painting over history. They note the storied national landmark was the site of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech and the Vietnam War protests.

“It’s not supposed to look like you’re going to dive in and swim; it is intended to reflect the great geometry of the classical temple that is the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument,” said Judy Scott Feldman, of the National Mall Coalition, a nonprofit that helps protect the area’s legacy.

“It wasn’t intended as a place that looks jolly like your local golf course,” she added. “The intention is to create both beauty but also to symbolically link the father of the country with the preserver of the country.”

Feldman, of course, is referring first to George Washington, whose monument stands at the other end of the Reflecting Pool, and then to Abraham Lincoln.

Trump has also been intentional about his color choice, a vibrant shade of dark blue that he calls “American Flag Blue.”

“It’s much more beautiful than it was new because it never had the color people wanted, but now it’s going to have the great color,” Trump said earlier this month, as he drove in his presidential motorcade across the drained pool to survey the work.

The Interior Department told CNN in a statement that the color choice will “enhance the visitor experience” and improve reflection over the existing gray concrete.

Charles Birnbaum, president of the Cultural Landscape Foundation, the nonprofit that’s challenging the project in court, couldn’t disagree more and insists visitors would miss out on seeing themselves in the water as “part of the commemorative landscape.”

“Without immediate judicial intervention, defendants will deface an iconic American landmark, in open violation of Congressionally mandated procedures,” lawyers for the foundation and Birnbaum, who is also a named plaintiff in the case, told the judge in court papers last week.

The nonprofit argues the administration skirted laws mandating an environmental assessment and an opportunity for the public to weigh in, among other things.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, is holding a hearing Thursday on a request from the foundation for a court order halting work on the project. Justice Department attorneys are set to submit written legal arguments in defense of the project by Monday.

Cost, contracts and quality

The growing cost, contract and quality of the work are also under scrutiny.

Trump first said the renovation would cost $1.8 million. But federal records show the price tag is now at $13.1 million for the project.

The Interior Department attributed the sevenfold increase to speeding up the project in time for the country’s 250th birthday celebrations. Officials said the quicker timeline meant more workers working longer hours.

They also say the National Park Service did consider other proposals to fix the leaking, one of the needed repairs, but those were short-term fixes they claim would have ended up costing more in the long term.

The project aims to improve water quality as well, to clear out duck droppings and algae. The National Parks Service is installing an “ozone nanobubbler” filtration system and will have a dedicated crew who will maintain the grounds.

Atlantic Industrial Coatings, a company based in Virginia, was awarded a no-bid contract for the work. Reached by CNN, the company declined to answer questions about the timeline or costs.

The project drew tough questions on Capitol Hill earlier this month.

“My understanding is a no-bid contract is reserved for situations where delay would cause serious injury. What’s the injury with the Reflecting Pool?” Rep. Joe Neguse, a Democrat from Colorado, asked Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.

Burgum didn’t respond and instead pointed out nearly 20 fountains across the city don’t work.

“That’s the serious injury to the government?” Neguse shot back.

Trump has done little to clarify the process.

At first, he touted the contractor as one that worked on swimming pools for him in the past and was “unbelievable” at it.

“He looked at it. He called me up. He said, ‘Sir, we can do something on it,’” the president said in the Oval Office in April.

Earlier this month, the president said he had asked three companies to look at the project and that “the best one gave me a great price.”

Then last week, he said the contract “went to a contractor I did not know, and have never used before.”

In 2012, the Obama administration spent $34 million for the last major renovation of the Reflecting Pool.

Trump administration officials claim, however, that those efforts did not resolve various issues, including that the pool leaks 16 million gallons of water a year.

The president has not shied from making this a political issue. One AI-produced image he shared on Truth Social featured former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama along with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi swimming in the Reflecting Pool with what appeared to be human waste, captioned “Dumacrats Love Sewage.”

“It won’t leak, it will shine, and be the pride of Washington D.C. for decades to come,” Trump said in another Truth Social post.

By Sunlen Serfaty, Devan Cole and Dugald McConnell, CNN