Trump says DC reflecting pool repairs may not be done in time for 4 July
Donald Trump has acknowledged that repairs to the algae-stricken reflecting pool in Washington DC may not be completed in time for the Fourth of July, when the president plans to convene a big celebration on the National Mall to ring in the country’s 250th birthday.
The body of water began filling with algae blooms and peeling paint after the Trump administration ordered a $14.2m renovation to turn it “American flag” blue, prompting the president to claim – without providing evidence – that vandals armed with a knife had damaged it.
He reiterated the allegation in a social media post on Tuesday, while indicating the repair work may not be completed in time for the country’s semiquincentennial.
“We will drain some of the water, either immediately before or after the Fourth of July, to do the permanent repair,” Trump said.
He also claimed that six people had been arrested, and seven cited, “for the damage they did to our country’s now beautiful Reflecting Pool”.
He blamed the vandalism on a 350ft gash “made by a very sharp knife or razors” that created “numerous slashes over a very long 350 foot length”. Such “slashes” have not been visible during visits by reporters in recent days.
“It was purposefully and criminally done, and somebody had to work very hard, probably in the dark of night, to create such a condition,” Trump wrote. “Likewise, the small area at the bottom of the pool was cut and powerfully lifted off the surface leaving very jagged, uneven edges,” he wrote.
Trump doubled down on his claims that the reflecting pool was vandalized, telling reporters earlier on Tuesday without evidence: “They’ve arrested I think six people on the reflecting pool. So, the reflecting pool looks fantastic … Somebody went in with a knife and cut it. They cut it up good. And then they cut it 200, 350ft slit in the form of lots of little slits, real horrible stuff.
“I understand five or six people have been arrested, the interior department can refer to you on that. I hear they have six people under investigation,” he added.
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 5 June, the outlet reported on Tuesday.
The workers identified two cuts in the foam located between the pool’s expansion joints, the newspaper added. 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.
The records described the damage as two 171ft blade cuts, though they did not explain how or why the cuts may have been created.
The New York Times reported that by 16 June, workers had found sections of the pool’s blue sealant separating from the bottom and floating in the water, according to the documents.
The sealant was not connected to the foam in the pool’s expansion joints, it added.
The documents also revealed that some of the systems installed to eliminate algae were not operating effectively.
The White House and the interior department did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
It is unclear how such extensive vandalism could have been carried at the reflecting pool, which is overlooked by the Lincoln Memorial and often patrolled by police.
The Washington Post reported on Monday that over the weekend, a dead duck was found floating in the reflecting pool and two more carcasses were found in a pond about 250ft away at the Constitution Gardens.
Ducks typically go back and forth between the two bodies of water, and the causes of the deaths were unknown. While the Post was unable to determine what happened to the body of the duck discovered in the reflecting pool, an animal rescue group had retrieved the two carcasses discovered in the Constitution Gardens and planned to perform necropsies.
The botched renovation of the reflecting pool comes amid a push by Trump to spruce up monuments across the capital city in advance of the country’s 250th anniversary celebration. The White House has announced plans for a speech by Trump on the National Mall as well as a fireworks celebration, billed as the largest in history.
Democrats have condemned the effort as wasteful and emblematic of an administration that is uninterested in addressing the economic concerns of Americans. They have linked it to Trump’s parallel effort to build a ballroom on the demolished East Wing of the White House, and his attempts to quietly shift taxpayer money to a project he insisted would be paid for by private donations.
