Noting various problems that have emerged around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, President Donald Trump said it may now have to be drained for “necessary repairs.”
“Work will begin immediately” on fixing the pool, Trump said Sunday.
The pool recently reopened after a $14 million renovation that included leak repairs, a new filtration system and a blue liner. Trump promoted the project as a major upgrade to one of Washington’s most recognizable landmarks.
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But less than two weeks later, a widespread algae bloom turned large portions of the water green. Then, visitors started spotting peeling in the new protective coating that was applied to the bottom of the pool during renovations.
On Friday afternoon, The New York Times reported, the pool’s new coating was missing large sections, “including a gap roughly the size of a park bench.”
Trump, without offering evidence, blamed “vandals” for the disrepair, claiming the “United States Park Police have arrested multiple individuals for vandalizing our Nations magnificent Reflecting Pool.”
“Who would do such a thing? These are very serious crimes having to do with the destruction of National Monuments,” he said.
The president accused these vandals of putting a “250-foot-long gash into the beautiful facade of what took so much work, competence, and money to build and complete.” The Wall Street Journal writes that it’s unclear what Trump means by this, as the new surface isn’t plastic, as is typical for lining pools and easy to cut. Instead, it’s “more like a coarse coat of paint,” the WSJ said.
In addition, Trump claimed vandals poured corrosive and destructive chemicals into the Pool, and destroyed grass around it. He did not post pictures of the damage.
The Interior Department said in a statement to Straight Arrow that five people were arrested for vandalism, and another five were issued federal citations. Fourteen police reports have been filed for vandalism, according to the Interior Department.
One arrest was captured by a conservative journalist and posted on X. The man arrested, David Hearn, a three-time Olympian in the canoe slalom, denied damaging government property in an interview with The Washington Post.
Hearn said he went to see the Reflecting Pool during a 52-mile bike ride on Friday. When he saw a piece of the liner partially detached from the bottom of the pool, Hearn reached down to see what it felt like.
“I was able to grab the end of that flapping piece, the already peeling piece,” he said to the Washington Post. “It was still attached to the bottom. I didn’t remove anything.”
As he was getting ready to leave, U.S. Park Police officers arrested and charged Hearn with destruction of government property as a misdemeanor. The Washington Post reported Heard was detained for almost five hours before being released around 9 p.m.
He was now scheduled to appear in D.C. Superior Court on July 9.
Hearn told the Post he “didn’t vandalize anything.”
“I didn’t destroy or break or peel anything,” the 67-year-old said. “By the time I realized what was going on, I was being put in handcuffs.”
The Associated Press noted that if someone had pulled ribbons of paint from the pool’s side, this still would not explain the algae or the loose blue paint detached from the bottom of it.
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