President Donald Trump announced that the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool will be drained for permanent repairs around the Fourth of July, acknowledging the work may not be completed in time for the country's 250th birthday celebration. The pool has been plagued by algae and peeling paint since the Trump administration completed its renovation, which cost taxpayers more than $16 million.

President Trump said in a social media post that "large areas of grass are being replaced" around the pool and that the administration "will drain some of the water, either immediately before or after the Fourth of July, to do the permanent repair." The president had previously vowed to complete the renovation in time for the country's semiquincentennial celebration on the National Mall, which will include what the White House bills as the largest fireworks display in history.

Trump has blamed the Reflecting Pool's problems on vandals, though has yet to offer evidence. "Six people have been arrested, and seven people have been cited, for the damage they did to our Country's now beautiful Reflecting Pool," Trump wrote on Truth Social. He claimed the damage included a 350-foot gash "made by a very sharp knife or razors" that was "purposefully and criminally done."

President Trump directed reporters to the Interior Department and the Parks Department for information on ongoing investigations but provided no evidence himself. The Interior Department and the U.S. Park Police have not responded to multiple outreaches for evidence of the alleged vandalism.

Documents reviewed by the New York Times show that National Park Service workers discovered holes, cracks, peeling caulking and cuts in sections of the foam just days after the pool was drained, resealed and refilled by June 5. The workers identified two cuts in the foam located between the pool's expansion joints. However, the documents indicated that the damage was not linked to either the pool's blue "American flag" coating or the most recent algae outbreak.

Among those arrested was three-time U.S. Olympian and canoeist David Hearn, who was cycling by the pool on Friday (June 20) when he noticed a partly detached piece of the blue liner and reached into the water to see what it felt like.

The renovation project has faced multiple problems since its inception. The original $1.8 million estimate ballooned to nearly $15 million. President Trump awarded a no-bid contract to Atlantic Industrial Coatings, a Virginia-based business that has not previously won any federal contracts. The president said the company had previously worked at his golf club in Virginia, though the company did not confirm this tie.

Another no-bid contract was awarded to John J. Cafaro, a Trump donor who is a neighbor of Mar-a-Lago, President Trump's Florida club. Cafaro's water treatment company got a $1.7 million contract for the filtration system intended to address issues with algae.

Within days of the project's completion, the water started to appear green because of algae plaguing the standing water. The interior department said it was using an "advanced nanobubbler technology" to kill algae, which the National Park Service is then vacuuming up. Workers and contractors have been wading through the pool for days, cleaning algae, and have also been seen pouring hydrogen peroxide into the pool to attempt to clean it.

The bottom of the reflecting pool has historically been grayish, intended to reflect the monuments around it. But President Trump sought to make the site "American flag blue," a dark shade of navy officially called "Old Glory Blue." The Cultural Landscape Foundation filed a lawsuit to try to stop the work, saying the paint job amounted to an "aesthetic injury."

Algae and leaks have long plagued the Reflecting Pool, which was constructed in the 1920s. Former President Barack Obama made his own attempt at renovations during his administration and spent roughly $35 million on the changes. The Obama administration repaired and renovated the pool over the course of two years, ending in 2012, to address leaks, filtration and paint.

Armstrong & Getty