CS Knowledge Base

In April 2026, U.S. President Donald Trump launched renovations of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, awarding a no-bid contract for working including the resurfacing of its bottom in a color he called "American flag blue". The project was advertised as beautifying the prominent water feature in the U.S. capital city, but algae growth returned soon after completion of the work and the lining added during resurfacing quickly began to peel.

In April 2026, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the resurfacing of the concrete bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, in a color he called "American flag blue", had begun.^[1][2] The reason given by Trump and the Trump administration for this project was to make the pool "beautiful"^[1] and to remove algae. While the exact color of "American flag blue" remains unknown, some sources have suggested that the color could be "Old Glory Blue" or some other similar color.^[3] On May 8, the Interior Department said they planned to pay $13.1 million for the project.^[4]

Trump chose the color, contractor and other factors without typical reviews by federal agencies, opportunity for public comment, or congressional approval.^[5] Atlantic Industrial Coatings, which had previously performed work at the Trump National Golf Club, Virginia, was provided its first federal contract, a no-bid contract, to fix leaks from the joints in the Reflecting Pool and waterproof the pool's concrete bottom.^[6][7] The project also included a new nanobubbler water purification system installed by the company Greenwater Services, which is owned by John Cafaro, a neighbor of Trump's at Mar-a-Lago;^[8] the company secured a no-bid contract for the work.^[9][10] The contractor who had previously renovated the pool in 2010 declined the Trump administration's offer to do the 2026 renovations because, according to two employees interviewed by CNN, the mechanics and timeline of the 2026 project were "unfeasible".^[11]

After the pool had been resurfaced and sealed, and before it was refilled, Trump's motorcade drove through the pool so he could inspect the work.^[12][13][14] On May 11, nonprofit group The Cultural Landscape Foundation sued the Trump administration to prevent the project from continuing.^[15]

By June 5, the work had been completed and the Reflecting Pool had begun to be refilled with water.^[16] Within days of the project's completion and subsequent refilling of the pool, algae appeared in the pool.^[17] National Park Service workers resorted to pouring hydrogen peroxide in the pool and manual vacuuming in an effort to remove the algae.^[18] The blue resurfacing material used also began peeling from the bottom of the Reflecting Pool soon after the completion of the project.^[19][20] The New York Times spoke to employees of Greenwater Services, who said the National Park Service had asked them to remove the nanobubbling purifier systems from the pool's rim for the duration of Trump's Ultimate Fighting Championship on the White House lawn; by the time they were reinstalled 36 hours later, the algae was already in full bloom.^[21]

Engineers and pool experts interviewed by Scientific American postulated that the peeling might have be caused by a variety of factors:

• Incorrect curing time between applications of the polyurea resurfacant layers, adhesive properties of polyurea to granite, hot summer temperatures, or UV radiation.
• The application of hydrogen peroxide could have possibly contributed to the peeling, but was likely too diluted to account for the magnitude of the damage.^[22][23][24]
• Scientific American identified the blue resurfacing material as a specific brand of polyurea coating, namely Rhino Linings' Pipeliner 5000.^[24] According to experts interviewed by The New York Times; the resurfacing should have been done with a pure polyurea material rather than the hybrid material that was chosen, which was more typically used to line pipes and may lack the flexibility to seal pools.^[21]
• Scientific American also mentioned the possibility that the presidential motorcade had damaged the pool.^[24] An expert contacted by The New York Times also corroborated this claim.^[25]

Trump claimed in late June that both the algae and peeling material in the pool were caused by vandalism; multiple media outlets reported at the time that there was no evidence for these claims.^[26][27][28] A Trump administration official later told CBS News that, in regards to the supposed vandalism, 14 police reports were filed, with five citations issued and five arrests made, including that of Olympic athlete David Hearn,^[29][30] who was later indicted by a grand jury.^[31] On June 23, Trump announced that the pool would be drained for repairs.^[32] Atlantic Industry Coatings confirmed this, stating the costs of this would be covered under the project's warranty.^[33]

On June 24, during the aforementioned Cultural Landscape Foundation lawsuit, a statement on the alleged vandalism was published by Frank Lands, deputy director for Operations at the National Park Service.^[34] In the statement, Lands revealed that on June 9, the United States Park Police responded to a National Park Service report of vandalism to the pool, which included the reported cutting of "caulk over the foam sealant" and destruction "of delaminating surface material".^[34]

The Trump administration deployed National Guard soldiers to the pool, and established surveillance to counter alleged vandalism.^[35] Fencing for a July 4 event featuring fireworks was installed early on the evening of June 25.^[36][37]

In early July, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum indicated that Green Water Solutions would again be contracted for repairs, remarking, "We'll use the same company, because they did a fantastic job."^[38]