What’s between six and thirty inches deep, holds almost seven million gallons of water, and turns green with algae at the start of every miserable, humid Washington, D.C. summer, even though it had a big ‘refurbishment’ only fourteen years ago?
The reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial, that’s what.
It can get pretty darn scuzzy, and it’s not something anyone misses.
In point of fact, between 2010 and 2011, President Obama had the pool spruced up during his tenure, at the Obama-sized cost of over $34 million. It took two years and, within a month of opening, was right back to scuzz city.
Not to mention that whole ‘leaked at a rate of 30 million gallons a year,‘ either.
Primo job for the money, no?
IT WOULD BE NICE IF IT WAS…CLEARER…WATER
🚨 Obama spent $34 MILLION of your tax dollars renovating the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
No Media meltdowns.
Here’s some reactions when it reopened 👇 pic.twitter.com/wV8wiNEM3U
— Alec Lace (@AlecLace) May 11, 2026
I’d say, ‘Well, the best intentions,’ but I’m never sure Obama has ever had any.
Obama’s 2 year remodel channeled in water from a nearby tidal pool, guaranteeing the algae could never be controlled, as any backflow of chemicals would pose risk to the wildlife.
The destruction of beauty is an intentional act to deaden our aspirations.
— Barry Hall (@KissforKolber) May 11, 2026
So the iconic pool with its magnificent vista stayed pretty gacky – it has no way to drain, and stagnant water is what it is. The Biden administration (dare I say) floated a refurbishment plan of its own that dwarfed Obama’s outlay, but it never came to fruition.
…Trump said the Biden administration had studied replacing the iconic pool’s granite but never embarked on the project, which had an estimated cost of $301 million and was expected to take more than three years.
With our 250th Anniversary as the most special country ever founded on Earth coming up, President Trump naturally couldn’t have all those monuments spruced up and the Tidal Basin Seawall repaired and safe once again…
A project that the D.C. area has been following closely has finally wrapped up. Visitors are now allowed to walk the entire edge of the Tidal Basin after fencing was removed this week blocking a significant portion.
The roughly 6,000 feet of sea wall between the Jefferson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt memorials has been fenced off for nearly two years. Crews began working on the Tidal Basin sea wall restoration project in the summer of 2024, raising those walls to prevent the frequent flooding.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday.
In a statement, Burgum said, “this historic area is stronger, safer, and ready to welcome record visitors for America’s 250th anniversary and the generations to follow.”
Runners, school groups and even fishing enthusiasts have now been able to walk along that end of the water. Lucas Ball was casting his line Thursday morning.
“I’d say it’s actually nice looking to me. It’s appealing. I like what they’re doing, repairing stuff, making it a lot nicer and safer for everybody. I would say they didn’t do that bad of a job on it,” he said between casts.
…eight months ahead of schedule and THIRTY MILLION DOLLARS under budget.
Uh. YEAH.
So there was no way Trump was ever going to allow it all to be dimmed by that cesspool-looking reflecting pool. It had to be squared away and fast.
And it’s getting a little silly right about now.
Trump talked to pool guys. Makes sense. They thought they could get it done relatively cheaply, but as everyone knows who has ever opened up a wall in an old house, once they got the water and googoo out of the pool, well, the bill started to go up.
Obama’s redo started at a shade over $30M and wound up close to $35M after almost two years.
Biden would have been hundreds of millions.
Trump’s started around $2M and now the New York Times has its smelling salts out because the fast-track repairs and makeover were going to be about $13M and change.
I mean, look at this headline over a pool when they never said the first word about Obama’s wasted money.
WAAH!
Reflecting Pool Repairs to Cost $13.1 Million. Trump Had Promised $1.8 Million.
BUT THE BAD ORANGE MAN PROMISED, MUMMY!
President Trump said that his handpicked contractor would charge only $1.8 million to repair the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and paint it blue.
The actual cost is now more than seven times that, after the Interior Department nearly doubled the size of the contract late last week, federal records show.
On Friday, the Interior Department added $6.2 million to the contract’s previous cost, saying it now planned to pay $13.1 million to a Virginia firm called Atlantic Industrial Coatings. President Trump said he chose that company to repair the landmark because the firm had worked on the swimming pools at his golf club in Sterling, Va.
The government awarded that firm a no-bid contract last month, bypassing the requirement to seek competing offers by saying that the situation was so urgent that any delay would cause “serious injury” to the government. The government has not publicly said what that injury would have been.
Instead, it has cited Mr. Trump’s desire to get the work done before the country’s 250th birthday on July 4.
Get a grip, kiddies. It’s still being repaired at exactly what Trump promised – a fraction of the cost.
…Earlier this month, he wrote that he and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum will fix the pool “at a fraction of the cost” that the administration was initially quoted.
Senator Fetterman had his ‘Lighten up, Francis’ reality check. Not that they’ll listen.
Once they spool up for a spazz, no matter how ludicrous, they have to just burn out on it.
Stop this henpecking.
$13M? This is an iconic American place and was in serious disrepair.
Get over the TDS and celebrate this is getting done for our 250th. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/X5PcTHfv8h
— U.S. Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) May 11, 2026
And now the ‘responsible, informed (self-appointed) stewardship’ NGO steps forward with a lawsuit to stop the blue paint.
A nonprofit dedicated to “promoting informed stewardship” of historic landscapes asked a federal judge on Monday to halt the Trump administration’s painting of the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pool, which has long featured a gray basin, blue. https://t.co/fejrJbNw03 pic.twitter.com/js82wp3OOH
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) May 11, 2026
Blue paint is ‘a blemish’ to informed stewards, you see, and this must end here!
The lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington, DC, by The Cultural Landscape Foundation argues the project violates federal laws requiring the Interior Department to complete a consultation process that includes notifying the public of the plans and getting input from other federal agencies before beginning the work.
The group also says the project runs afoul of a federal law requiring the department to issue an assessment of how the paint job would impact the environment.
The lawsuit is the latest challenge to Trump’s effort to remake a slew of cultural and historic institutions and sites in the nation’s capital. Other groups have asked federal courts to stop the president from moving ahead with work on a massive new ballroom at the White House, construction of an arch similar to Paris’ Arc de Triomphe and the painting of a federal office building adjacent to the White House.
“Defendants’ failure to follow the law before inserting a permanent blemish on the National Mall is causing serious and irreparable harm to the Plaintiffs and the public generally,” lawyers for the Cultural Landscape Foundation wrote in court papers. “Without immediate judicial intervention, defendants will deface an iconic American landmark, in open violation of Congressionally mandated procedures.”
The foundation’s president and CEO, Charles A. Birnbaum, who is also a plaintiff in the case, said in a statement that the Reflecting Pool’s design “is fundamental to the solemn and hallowed visual and spatial connection between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.”
“A blue-tinted basin is more appropriate to a resort or theme park,” he said.
Yes, intoned Mr. Birnbaum.
What’s the logic behind being upset about the reflecting pool upgrade? It looks nicer? pic.twitter.com/B80hIEQ1v1
— Autism Capital 🧩 (@AutismCapital) April 26, 2026
Algae, muck, and pondscum are much more suitable for hallowed ground.
Do they want him to have the 11 dump trucks full of crap put back too? You know, that they cleaned out of there before starting the work. Smh…
— Pedro Stuff (@pedrojoe14) May 11, 2026
Mr. Birnbaum wants his group to be named as a ‘consulting party’ for any further Trump improvements.
I’ll bet he does.
…The plaintiffs are also asking the court to compel the government to release project plans and documentation, and to formally recognize TCLF as a consulting party in any future preservation review.
In any event, the judge is mulling it over.
Hopefully, they get it fixed and lots of paint slapped on before he makes up his mind.
After seeing all the pictures of the muck these lunatics are so attached too, I can’t imagine what Jennie waded through yelling for Forest.
I bet he never did get the stench out of that uniform.
There’s only so much a dry cleaner can do.
