After President Donald Trump dropped $14.2 million to revamp the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, he is now considering draining it again as he claims vandals, who have since been arrested, vandalized the pool and poured chemicals into the water causing the “American Flag Blue” paint to peel.
While planning to celebrate the United States of America’s 250th Anniversary, President Trump set out to paint the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool blue. In May, The New York Times wrote about Trump’s plans as he prepared for the nation’s July 4 birthday.
Trump handpicked a contractor, whom he said had worked on his own swimming pool, to revamp the historic Washington, D.C. landmark. The no-bid contract was initially valued at $6.9 million, but quickly rose to a whopping $14.2.
Days after unveiling the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool with a blue-painted bottom, the paint began to peel and blue-green algae began to surface. The 14-million-dollar renovation barely lasted a week. Americans have since called out the President over the expensive revamp with apparent cheap materials. However, he’s pointing fingers and blaming vandals for ruining the pool.
Olympian Arrested For Allegedly Vandalizing Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool
On Saturday (June 20), Trump took to Truth Social and reposted an article from the Daily Mail. Its title read, “Former Olympian Arrested On Vandalism Charges At Lincoln Memorial.” The subtitle reads, “Former Olympian is arrested for allegedly vandalizing Reflecting Pool… but he claims he merely touched it.”
According to the publication, David Hearn, a three-time Olympian canoeist, was arrested by U.S. Park Police officers on Friday (June 19). Police arrested the 67-year-old Bethesda resident for a misdemeanor charge of destruction of government property.
But according to The Washington Post, Hearn claims he only touched the already-peeling liner of the Reflecting Pool at the Lincoln Memorial. He said:
“I didn’t vandalize anything. I didn’t destroy or break or peel anything. By the time I realized what was going on, I was being put in handcuffs I reached in there, and I was able to grab the end of that flapping piece, the already peeling piece. It was still attached to the bottom. I didn’t remove anything.”
Hearn is now scheduled to appear in D.C. Superior Court on July 9.
Donald Trump Blames Vandals For Ruining Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool
About two hours after his first post, Trump returned to Truth Social. He continued blaming vandals for the peeling paint at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. He wrote:
“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. Years in jail! Work will begin immediately on its repair. President DJT.”
Two hours after that post, he again returned to Truth Social to slam “disgraceful vandals.” In his latest post, he considered having contractors drain the pool again and fix the damage. He wrote:
“Many additional people have been arrested having to do with the disgraceful Vandalism of our beautiful Reflecting Pool. It hasn’t looked or worked like this since 1922, when it was originally built, but even then, it leaked badly, and didn’t work. Ours worked perfectly, including the mirror like finish, perfectly reflecting the two Great Monuments, which it never had before! What these terrible Vandals have done is a true affront to both Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and should be dealt with accordingly. 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. What they have damaged does not even include the earlier killing of a large amount of grass which was, by far, the least of it. They took some form of knife or blade, and put a 250 foot long gash into the beautiful facade of what took so much work, competence, and money to build and complete. They also poured corrosive and destructive chemicals into the Pool. The Reflecting Pool was never so beautiful as it was just one week ago, even going back to 1922 when it opened. We are very proud of what we have done with this magnificent structure, and we will get it repaired, quickly, to an equal level of Beauty. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP.”
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