Donald Trump Celebrates Reflecting Pool Repairs Amid New Damage

President Donald Trump celebrated the completion of a second round of renovations to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C., on Monday. He described the project as a "complete job" and claimed the pool was finished with the strongest available coating.

Hours after the speech, Washington Post reporters identified uneven light-blue streaks across the surface and areas where the new coating was already cracking or peeling. A spokesperson for the United States Department of the Interior defended the work, attributing the discoloration to surplus coating and the cracks to "deranged vandalism."

This project follows a previous renovation earlier this year that deteriorated in at least 85 places. While the administration initially blamed vandalism for that failure, the United States Department of Justice dropped charges against suspects in July, admitting the original installation was "botched."