‘What a Freaking Waste’: Trump’s Reflecting Pool Makeover Goes Off the Rails After Viral Videos Expose Uneven Paint, Rushed Work, and One Costly Mistake Nobody Thought Through
President Donald Trump’s design plan for one of Washington’s most famous landmarks is facing difficulties on several fronts. Since returning to the White House in […] ‘What a Freaking Waste’: Trump’s Reflecting Pool Makeover Goes Off the Rails After Viral Videos Expose Uneven Paint, Rushed Work, and One Costly Mistake Nobody Thought Through
Black News 
President Donald Trump’s design plan for one of Washington’s most famous landmarks is facing difficulties on several fronts.
Since returning to the White House in 2025, the 79-year-old Republican has made it his mission to overhaul the nation’s capital in his image.
From plastering the Oval Office with golden ornaments to putting his name on the Kennedy Center to constructing a $400 million White House ballroom, Trump wants Washington to mimic the personal aesthetic of his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
One of Trump’s most criticized moves involves the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on the National Mall.
The 2,030-foot-by-167-foot water basin is getting an unexpected makeover that has caused widespread aggravation.
Located between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was originally completed in 1923.
Trump is now adding a new color to the tourist attraction.
Workers have begun spraying a coat of what the president called “American flag blue” over the pool’s floor.
However, the facelift has already been engulfed in controversy before the project has even been completed.
According to The Guardian, the Reflecting Pool’s paint job is supposed to be done by America’s 250th anniversary celebration, but contractors are reportedly struggling to finish by July 4, fueling concern that workers’ safety could be at risk.
“With this project, they are trying to rush on a timescale that is most likely to leave some liability with the contractor,” International Union of Painters and Allied Trades representative Herbert Zaldiva told the outlet.
The director of organizing for IUPAT added, “The chemicals are hazardous. My concern is usually the level of risk when it’s rushed. Are workers taking the rightful steps to protect themselves?”
Virginia-based Atlantic Industrial Coatings was given a no-bid contract by the federal government, which sparked further scrutiny because Trump initially claimed he was directly involved in contracting their services to “do something” about the site.
Trump took to Truth Social on May 12 to insist that he “didn’t give out the contract” and “did not know” the contractor, passing the buck to the Department of the Interior, led by Trump-nominated Secretary Doug Burgum.
The original estimated painting cost of $1.8 million has apparently ballooned to $13.1 million, with reports that the Interior Department recently added an additional $6.2 million to Atlantic Industrial Coatings’ contract.
Despite the backlash over the contentious blue-tinted optics and the skyrocketing financial cost to the American taxpayers, Trump continues to promote the still-in-the-works changes to the Reflecting Pool.
On May 17, the POTUS uploaded an AI-generated meme of supposed before-and-after photos of the area in front of the Lincoln Memorial to his Truth Social account.
The altered image featured one side that was dark and filthy, while the other side was depicted as clean and bright.
The words “What They Do” were written above the bleak version of the Reflection Pool, likely suggesting that Trump’s Democratic presidential predecessors were somehow responsible for the murky waters in the fake picture.
“What We Do” was written over the digitally-enhanced, more radiant Reflection Pool mock-up.
Trump’s attempt to brighten up the story of his remodeling did not halt the bitter reactions to his choosing to change the pool’s gray stone surface.
For instance, an X poster expressed, “Where’s the reflection. We need a class action lawsuit.”
A second person tweeted, “At least before it actually reflected something!! This looks ridiculous… What’s next? A wave machine?!?”
“It no longer reflects! This is awful! EVERYTHING he builds to himself must be destroyed when we get rid of him, including the ballroom,” declared a Trump critic on X. Another tweet read, “It’ll be the dirtiest swimming pool in the USA.”
View on Threads
Video of painters covering the bed of the Reflecting Pool in a layer of blue spread across the internet, further kindling outrage over Trump making changes to Washington landscape as large sections of the country deal with financial hardships from the president’s policies.
“What a freaking waste,” one Threads user stated. Another angered poster exclaimed, “And this cost [$13 million]!”
Similarly, someone joked, “$13 million and they couldn’t even get a machine to do it .”
The 69-year-old Burgum will be tarred with the same brush as the president after being fully on board with overhauling the location.
“We are working at Trump Speed to Make Washington, D.C. Safe and Beautiful! Proud to work alongside @POTUS to restore the Reflecting Pool,” Burgum tweeted in April.
“What was expected to take years is getting done faster and at a lower cost thanks to his leadership. Our capital has never looked better!”
