Recently Drained Reflecting Pool Has Some Notable Missing Elements

A lack of evidence strikes this administration again; can you believe that?

By: Austin Abbring

July 18, 2026

Photo Credit: Reflecting pool, July 15, 2026, AP photo/Rahmat Gul

I know this is not at the top of the news right now, considering everything going on this week, but this is something I do not want swept under the rug. The entire Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool fiasco has been a perfect microcosm of the Trump era. It has all the Trump presidency classics: find an issue and make it a huge public display by boasting about how much better it will be under him. Blame the opposition for the issue at hand that he is “solving beautifully”. Throw out a low-budget proposal, then have it balloon to 16 times the original plan. Reward a personal contact with a no-bid contract, or utilize an unqualified individual. Have a horrifically inadequate end result. Escape any accountability by scapegoating someone else or gaslighting the American people, with no credible evidence. Have blunder after hilarious and embarrassing blunder along the way. 

That has happened here to a T. The reflecting pool has been drained for “fireworks clean up and vandalism repairs”, and the result of this is astonishing. All of the “American Flag Blue” paint has peeled off of the base and whatever liner they used on the pool. I am old enough to remember when Donald Trump suggested that after these upgrades and repairs, there would be no need to work on the pool for 100 years. It is completely gone. Not one square inch of that paint remains. In just a matter of weeks. There is also no evidence of any 300-foot gash that was slashed into the pool’s liner by a box cutter-wielding Antifa member. What there appears to be evidence of, however, are long tire marks from when Trump insisted on taking the motorcade directly onto the pool to inspect progress of the initial painting project.

A man looks out at the recently drained pool prior to its concealment, July 13, 2026. Photo Credit: AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

May 7, 2026: President Trump’s motorcade driving across the Reflecting Pool to inspect progress. Photo Credit: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Following an initial proposal of $1.7 million to do all renovations, we are now around $16 million in and essentially back to square one. The project was not completed by the promised July 4th deadline, and you will never guess who is completing the repairs: the exact same company that did the initial work. I am sure they have it all figured out now. That was all a warm-up. It will be nothing but gravy from this point on.

Donald Trump is not the first president to deal with issues on the reflecting pool, but he has certainly not done himself any favors. All fake vandalism and multi-hundred-ton motorcade cruises aside, one of the two main concerns Trump had was the algae issue that has plagued the monumental waters. That never went away. Paint peeling and supposed vandalism, which, again, there is no substantive evidence of, are just small elements here. None of that would have created the mass growth of algae blooms. In fact, his method of “beautifying” the reflecting pool by painting the base a darker color has only created a perfect ecosystem for algae to grow and flourish in. This is all such a comedy of errors. So much so that the pool is currently completely fenced off and screened off from the general public. I guess Trump does not want to be harpooned by the media over this again. How many fictitious claims, embarrassing coverups, and inept actions in a row is this now? I am beginning to lose count.