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Contractor Blames Own Work for Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool Damage, Not Vandalism
Confirmed
In Short: The contractor that renovated the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has told the Trump administration that errors in its own work and flaws in its repair plan caused the pool’s new blue liner to peel and break loose, not vandalism.
President Donald Trump's administration has been informed that the contractor responsible for the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovation blames errors in its own work and flaws in its repair plan for the pool's new blue liner peeling and breaking loose, rather than vandalism.
The Justice Department, which had charged several people with vandalizing the pool, began moving to dismiss the cases on July 31, according to the Times. The government has agreed to pay the contractor $14.7 million for its work, but the contractor claims the pool is under warranty and eligible for additional repair.
In documents, the contractor blamed 'human oversight' in some patches of the renovation, saying workers did not apply enough chemical primer to gel the layers of the liner together. The company admitted that both the design and execution of the renovation were flawed, according to new reports from Daily Kos.
The pool is still drained, and repairs appear to be ongoing. Workers filled one large trash bag with bits of liner on Thursday, but many more pieces remain stuck to the pool's concrete slabs and will need to be removed later with razor blades, hammers, and crowbars, according to Daily Kos.
What's confirmed
- President Donald Trump in the White House Rose Garden on April 2, 2025 The New York Times reports that the contractor that renovated the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has told the Trump administration that errors in its own work and flaws in its repair plan, caused the pool’s new blue liner to peel and break loose, not vandalism.
- The Times reports the government has agreed to pay Atlantic $14.7 million for its work, but the contractor has said the pool is under warranty and eligible for additional repair.
What's still developing
- “The chemical on top reached a temperature hotter than what the compound underneath could withstand, and the heat caused the bottom layer to blister and come loose, the documents show. The contractor said it had not expected that outcome because it was very uncommon to mix the two products in that way,” reports the Times.
- In July, federal prosecutors acted on President Donald Trump’s claims of vandalism and announced the indictment former Olympic canoeist David Hearn for pulling up a piece of the liner, on a felony vandalism charge.
- “Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney in Washington, wrote that the Interior Department had misled her staff about the extent to which the damage had stemmed from vandalism rather than a ‘botched installation,’” reports the Times.
- The Department of Interior, which is overseeing the renovation project, will pay $2.7 million to American Ag Energy, a Massachusetts-based company that specializes in renewable energy technology, for repairs and maintenance of sewage and water purification systems at the pool, according to details of the government contract and the company’s owner.
- “Katie Martin, a spokeswoman for the Interior Department, did not directly address questions about the contractor’s findings but issued a statement that appeared to continue blaming vandals for the damage, saying that they had “repeatedly reached into the pool and ripped at the coating.”” Will trump and the DOJ be held accountable for their lying, gaslighting and terrorizing of the hard-working people of the nation?
- The documents include the contractor’s reports to the government as well as daily progress updates from the National Park Service over the past two months.
- The Trump administration has hired yet another new company to help clean and maintain the Lincoln Reflecting Pool — adding more cost and more questions to the renovation project that was meant to be a showcase of the country’s 250th birthday.