Trump Administration Sued Over Painting Of Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool
A high-profile renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has sparked a federal lawsuit after President Donald Trump’s administration moved to resurface the landmark in an "American flag blue." While the President originally claimed the project would cost taxpayers roughly $2 million, recent federal records reveal that the price tag has soared to $13.1 million.
The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) filed the lawsuit on Monday, May 11th, seeking an immediate halt to the construction. The group argues that the administration bypassed mandatory congressional procedures and the National Historic Preservation Act, which requires consultation before altering sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The project involves painting the 2,030-foot basin a shade the President described on Truth Social as "American flag blue." Trump told reporters on Tuesday that the pool was "filthy, dirty and it leaked like a sieve for many years," and promised that "for the first time since 1922 [the reflecting pool is] going to work properly."
Critics, however, argue the bright tint destroys the pool's purpose. Charles A. Birnbaum, founder of TCLF, stated that the "blue-tinted basin is more appropriate to a resort or theme park." He explained that "the design intent, to create a reflective surface that is subordinate, is fundamental to the solemn and hallowed visual and spatial connection between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial."
Beyond the aesthetics, the project has come under fire for its soaring costs and the way the contract was awarded.
Records show the Department of the Interior awarded the no-bid contract using an emergency exemption to ensure that the pool is ready for America's 250th birthday on July 4th. Trump sought to distance himself from the specifics on Truth Social, writing that he "didn't give out the contract" and that the Department of Interior had awarded the contract to a company he had "never used before," despite previously telling reporters he wanted to use pool contractors who had worked for him in the past.
The lawsuit alleges that this project is part of a broader "pattern" of disregarding legal limits, "epitomized most notably by the rush to destroy the East Wing of the White [House]" to build a new ballroom.
"Every day that the resurfacing continues, the historic character of the Reflecting Pool is being further and fundamentally altered," the legal filing states.
The Department of the Interior defended the work, stating the blue surface "will enhance the visitor experience by making the pool reflect the grand Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument." Work is currently scheduled to be finished by May 22nd.
