Tourists say Trump’s repairs to Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool are ‘a total disgrace’

The Lincoln Memorial and the Reflecting Pool are seen from the Washington Monument, Wednesday, July 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump, who once said he was going to “drain the swamp” in Washington, D.C., is having a tough time trying to fix the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. One of the crown jewels in the nation’s capital is under repair — again.

This after Trump pushed for an “American Flag Blue” coating to fast-track the renovations in time for America’s 250th birthday. But the new paint job was uneven, resulting in peeling paint.

By June, the water was back, but so was the stinky green algae and duck poop the pool was plagued with.

The U.S. president’s US$14-million-dollar beauty makeover has not gone quite as planned. For some tourists, it’s become an unsightly reflection of Trump’s administration.

‘It’s a total disgrace’

Lesley Clurman, from Austin, Texas, told CTV News: “I don’t even want to travel anymore because it’s embarrassing to be an American. And it’s just sad what he’s done to our country. It’s a s--- show ... he ruined part of our history because he has to show that he’s so great and powerful and then blames other people.”

Ralph Schreiner, a Vietnam veteran, did not hold back his critiques either. He often visits the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to pay his respects to three fallen comrades.

As he looks at the dried-up Reflecting Pool undergoing yet more repairs, he told CTV News: “I think it’s a total disgrace. That man is trying to put his name on everything out here ... just hiring his friends his buddies and all his cronies is a total disgrace. He should be impeached!”

The president who said he wanted to make the Reflecting Pool “great again,” has been bedevilled with all sorts of setbacks. He rushed out a no-bid contract to people who had political ties to the Trump campaign. With great fanfare Trump’s motorcade drove across the floor of the pool to highlight the re-do.

The president insisted the coating was practically indestructible in May. He said, “if you had a knife, you can’t even cut it. So strong.”

In June, Trump blamed the damage on vandals, alleging a several-hundred-foot gash in the new liner was the result of criminal wrongdoing instead of renovations.

Visiting from Pittsburgh, Pa., Cindy and Chloe Walz left the site disappointed.

“I was looking forward to seeing it, I didn’t think it was going to be drained and fenced up,” said Cindy Walz.

Her daughter Chloe added: “It makes me sad. I mean I was excited to see the repairs.”

Steve Yoder from Indiana called the controversy over the president’s desire to improve a treasured Washington landmark “a bunch of baloney. I mean this monument, take care of it,” Yoder said, adding “it’s all political.”

Now the Reflecting Pool is being watched over by U.S. National Guard troops, and the pool designed a century ago, that famously was once lined with people listening to the words of Martin Luther King Jr. is fenced off as workers try one more time to repair it.