Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool

The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was designed by Henry Bacon. The groundbreaking for the Lincoln Memorial and the pool was on February 12, 1914, and they were dedicated on May 30, 1922.^[7] During construction, the pool was nicknamed by some sources as a "water mirror".^[12] When originally constructed, it was approximately 2,028 feet (618 m; 3⁄8 mi) long and 167 feet (51 m) wide.^[13] The perimeter of the pool was therefore 4,392 feet (1,339 meters; 13⁄16 mile) around. It was completely rebuilt between 2010 and 2012.^[11] The pool was originally built with an asphalt and tile bottom,^[14] but was replaced with concrete in the 2009 restoration. The nearby walkways and the rim of the Reflecting Pool are made of granite.^[3]

Before the 2009 restoration the Reflecting Pool held 6.75 million U.S. gallons (25.6 million liters; 20.7 acre-feet) of water.^[3] According to former U.S. secretary of the interior Ken Salazar, it now holds about 4 million U.S. gallons (15 million liters; 12 acre-feet) of water.^[4]

Using funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the National Park Service reconstructed the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.^[3] The project was managed by the Louis Berger Group.^[1] Construction on the 18-month, $30.74 million project began in November 2010. In May 2011, workers began sinking the first of 2,133 wood pilings into a 40-foot-deep (12-meter) layer of soft, marshy river clay and some dredged-up material atop bedrock to support a new pool.^[11] The pool's water supply system was updated to eliminate stagnant water by circulating water from the Tidal Basin; the pool was formerly filled using potable water from the city.^[15] Paved walking paths were added to the north and south sides of the pool to replace worn grass and to prevent erosion.^[16] The pool reopened on August 31, 2012.^[1]

In April 2026, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the resurfacing of the concrete bottom of the pool, in a color he called "American flag blue" (most likely Old Glory Blue)^[21], had begun.^[2][22] The reason given by Trump and his administration for this project was to make the pool "beautiful" and to remove algae.^[2] On May 8, the Interior Department said they planned to pay $13.1 million for the project.^[23]

Trump chose the various factors of the changes without reviews by federal agencies, opportunity for public comment, or congressional approval.^[24] Atlantic Industrial Coatings, which had previously performed work for Trump 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.^[25][26] The project also included a new nanobubbler water purification system installed by the company Greenwater Services, which is owned by a neighbor of Trump's at Mar-a-Lago;^[27] the company also secured a no-bid contract for the work.^[28][29] The contractor who had renovated the pool previously declined the Trump administration's offer to do the new renovations because, according to two employees interviewed by CNN, the 2026 project was "unfeasible".^[30]

Trump's motorcade drove through the pool to inspect it before the Reflecting Pool was filled with water after its completion.^[31][32][33]

On May 11, nonprofit group the Cultural Landscape Foundation sued the Trump administration to prevent the project from continuing.^[34]

Post-renovations operation

The work was completed on June 5.^[35] Within days of the refilling of the pool, algae bloomed in the pool.^[36] National Park Service workers poured hydrogen peroxide into the pool and manually vacuumed the pool in an effort to remove the algae.^[37] 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 Trump's Ultimate Fighting Championship on the White House lawn.^[38] According to the same employees; by the time they were reinstalled 36 hours later, the algae was in full bloom.^[38]

Scientific American identified the blue thick-film elastomeric coating as a brand of polyurea coating from Rhino Linings called Pipeliner 5000.^[39] According to two experts in elastomeric coating interviewed by WBAL-TV, this polyurea coating has been frequently used before in water features to create a waterproof barrier as it cures quickly and remains flexible.^[40] As it began to peel off the bottom soon after the completion of the project,^[41][42] various engineers and pool experts interviewed by the American media have postulated that the peeling might have been caused by a variety of factors:

• Experts working with Scientific American noted that the curing time between applications of the polyurea resurfacant layers, the adhesive properties of polyurea layers to granite, the heat, or UV radiation may have also affected the resurfacing once finished.^[39]
• According to experts interviewed by The New York Times, the specific resurfacing material chosen may have been not as flexible as needed in a pool, as the liner used was made for pipes, although other experts from other sources have disagreed with this hypotheses.^{[38] [40]}
• Scientific American and The New York Times also mentioned the possibility that the presidential motorcade had damaged the pool.^[39][43]
• According to a variety of experts interviewed by a variety of sources, the application of hydrogen peroxide to reduce algae in the Reflecting Pool was likely too diluted to account for the magnitude of the damage.^[44][45][39]

Trump claimed in late June that both the algae and the peeling of the new material in the pool were caused by vandalism; multiple media outlets reported at the time that there was no evidence for these claims.^{[46][47][48][49]} A Trump administration official later told CBS News that, in regards to the alleged vandalism, 14 police reports were filed, with five citations issued and five arrests made, including that of Olympic athlete David Hearn,^[50][51] who was later indicted by a grand jury on a federal charge that he had, in the words of US attorney Jeanine Pirro, "woefully destroyed property".^[52][53] Hearn pleaded not guilty.^[54]

On June 23, Trump announced that the pool would be drained for repairs.^[55] Atlantic Industry Coatings also confirmed this.^[56]

On June 24, during the aforementioned Cultural Landscape Foundation lawsuit, a statement on the so-called vandalism was published by Frank Lands, Deputy Director for Operations at the National Park Service.^[57] In the statement, Lands alleged 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".^[57]

The Trump administration deployed National Guard soldiers to the pool, and established surveillance to counter possible vandalism.^[58] Fencing for a July 4 event featuring fireworks was installed early on the evening of June 25.^[59][60]

The area of and around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has been the site of many historic events, including:

• In 1939, singer Marian Anderson was denied permission to perform at Constitution Hall in Washington because she was African American. An open-air concert was held on Easter Sunday, with a crowd of over 75,000 people.^[61]
• On August 28, 1963, the March on Washington used the area for its civil rights movement rally. It was there that Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered to a crowd of 250,000 people.^[8]
• On October 21, 1967, 100,000 anti-Vietnam War protesters met at the pool and memorial to begin the March on the Pentagon.^[62]
• In 2009, We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial was held, with a crowd of 400,000 people.^[10]
• On August 28, 2013, the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington and Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech was commemorated by an all-day event.^[63] The event featured various speakers including then President Barack Obama and John Lewis, the only living speaker from the original rally.^[64]
• On August 28, 2020, the Commitment March: Get Your Knee Off Our Necks was organized and held by Rev. Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III. The March came in the wake of the 2020 Black Lives Matter Protests. Speakers included Sharpton, King, then vice-president nominee Kamala Harris, as well as family members of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin, and other victims of racial violence.^[9]
• On January 19, 2021, then president-elect Joe Biden and then vice president-elect Kamala Harris held a memorial honoring the 400,000 Americans who had by that time died in the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.^[65]

The Reflecting Pool was featured in the following films:

• The 1939 film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington^[66]
• The 1994 film Forrest Gump^[67]
• The 2004 film National Treasure^[68]
• The 2005 film Wedding Crashers^[69]
• The 2011 film Transformers: Dark of the Moon^[70]
• The 2014 film Captain America: The Winter Soldier^[71]
• The 2017 film Spider-Man: Homecoming^[72]
• The 2020 film Wonder Woman 1984^[73]

• Capitol Reflecting Pool
• Rainbow Pool