Renovation of Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool Will Be ‘Fraction of Cost’: Trump

Renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, planned by President Donald Trump, will cost less than anticipated and take less time than expected, according to his latest statement about the project April 9.

“We were told it was going to take YEARS to do this job, and it will take a fraction of that time, at a fraction of the cost — and it will be much more beautiful than the day it was built!” Trump posted on Truth Social.

The president first announced on March 31 that he was working with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to clean up the pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, which he said was “absolutely filthy” and should have been cleaned during the Biden administration.

The project is the latest in a series of renovations included in Trump’s beautification initiative in preparation for America’s 250th anniversary celebration in July.

The National Park Service announced workers were draining the pool and using scrubbers to clean algae and goose droppings from the site this week.

“The cleaning of the Reflecting Pool continued this morning as the Super Scrubbers pushed the green sludge to the center of the pool,” the park service posted on X. “By the end of the week, the vacuum trucks will arrive to collect the slurry of algae and goose poop. It’s a smelly job, but our Facilities Management crew and contractors do it well.”

The site has become iconic for hosting historic American gatherings since opening in 1923 as part of architect Henry Bacon’s design for President Abraham Lincoln’s memorial. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963 was delivered to 250,000 people at the site, and it has since held numerous other historic events.

The pool stretches 2,030 feet long and 167 feet wide, holds about 4 million gallons of water, and is 30 inches deep at the center.

The pool was completely rebuilt in 2012 with sustainable water conservation features, including a new water supply system with water being drawn from the Tidal Basin and treated with an ozone water filtration system, according to the Trust for the National Mall.

It now has a tinted bottom to be more reflective, and old dirt paths have been replaced with sidewalks for easy access. Nighttime lights have also been installed, the trust stated.

More than 30 million people visit the National Mall every year, the National Mall and Memorial Park estimates.