Trump's disastrous Reflecting Pool makeover could see the landmark fenced off until next year, documents reveal [View all]

Source: The Independent

Wednesday 15 July 2026 07:54 EDT


The “temporary” chain link fence blocking public access to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in the aftermath of President Trump’s shambolic overhaul of the iconic site could be in place until early next year, according to federal procurement records reviewed by The Independent.

National Construction Rentals, Inc. of Mission Hills, California, was awarded the $37,263 job, which runs through January 8, 2027, an official contract summary shows. The Secret Service hired the same company in 2019 to erect “barricades and fencing” around Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago club in South Florida, which cost taxpayers some $17,000.

The fence went up following Trump’s bungled revamp of the historic Washington, D.C. landmark, which the president wrongfully claimed had been poorly maintained by presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama. In April, Trump said the renovation would be completed ahead of the July 4 holiday, at a cost of $2 million.

Since then, the price ballooned to nearly $15 million, the “American Flag Blue” paint Trump specified for the pool’s bottom – a no-bid contract given to the president’s “pool guy” – peeled off in large swaths, while a massive algae bloom turned the water a dull, murky green. Trump has not been forthcoming about when the fencing would come down, issuing a White House missive that blamed “[c]razed and deranged lunatics,” without providing evidence, for the damage.


Read more: https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/lincoln-memorial-reflecting-pool-drained-fence-trump-b3014887.html