US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that repair work on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington would begin immediately after he inspected the landmark from his helicopter and attributed its condition to vandalism that marred a recent multimillion-dollar renovation. The president claimed the damage occurred ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations on July 4 while the pool continued to suffer from bright green algae and peeling paint despite the fresh blue coating applied earlier this month. A senior Trump administration official told CBS News that five people had been arrested for vandalism with five more issued citations on Saturday night as a total of 14 police reports were filed.
Trump detailed his findings in a post on Truth Social after returning from Camp David in Maryland. “I just inspected it, and could only say to myself, and those gathered around me, WOW, who would do such a thing? SICK, DERANGED PEOPLE!” he wrote. The president specifically alleged that one individual had used a blade to create a 250-foot gash in the pool’s facade according to details shared with reporters traveling with him.
US Attorney for Washington DC Jeanine Pirro vowed to prosecute those responsible for any damage to the national monument. “Anyone who is in a position of vandalising or attempting to vandalise will face the criminal justice system in DC” she told Fox News on Sunday. The US Park Police which patrols the National Mall monuments did not respond to a request for confirmation of the arrest figures the BBC reported.
The Reflecting Pool built in the 1920s and stretching 2030 feet between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument has faced repeated maintenance challenges including leaks structural deterioration faulty pipes algae growth and bird droppings according to National Park Service documentation of the site. Despite the latest renovation which cost an estimated 13 million dollars and was intended to prepare the landmark for the 2026 anniversary the pool required potential draining and refilling for a second time this month Trump said. A previous major restoration completed around 2012 addressed similar issues but did not eliminate ongoing environmental pressures the agency has noted in public records.
Police arrested former Olympic canoeist David Davey Hearn on Friday after accusing him of vandalizing the pool by interacting with the peeling paint. Speaking to the BBC Hearn insisted he did not do anything wrong and was simply touching the material. “I didn’t destroy rip tear peel or remove any part” of the paint he said adding that the condition of the pool remained unchanged and calling his arrest an arbitrary capricious prosecution.
Officials have deployed chemicals including hydrogen peroxide to treat the algae bloom that emerged after the pool was refilled following the paint job the BBC reported. Rosalina Stancheva Christova a professor of aquatic ecology at George Mason University who sampled the water on June 16 identified the dominant species as Desmodesmus. “These ecosystems are very dynamic and the algal composition is changing really quickly” she said recommending constant monitoring to track organisms in the pool.
A news photographer observed a dead duckling floating in the pool over the weekend though the cause of death has not been determined and any link to the renovation work remains unclear according to the BBC. The National Park Service has documented how the site’s age and location contribute to persistent biological and structural problems that have required multiple interventions over the decades. Trump framed the latest developments as deliberate sabotage in his public statements calling for swift repairs to restore the landmark.
