Trump touts progress on Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool makeover
US President Donald Trump has revealed an ambitious renovation project of the historic Lincoln Memorial icon in Washington, D.C.
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Trump said the revamp had reached its "final phase" as he shared photos of the workers on-site on his Truth Social account.
The extensive makeover was estimated to cost $301 million and take three years to complete. However, the president claimed that with the help of Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and his department, the cost has been brought down to only $2 million.
Trump wrote on his social media platform on Friday: “Starting the final phase of Renovation that was supposed to cost 301 Million Dollars, and take three years, and was instead done, with the help of Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, and his entire Department, and a much better final result – 2 Million Dollars in one week.”
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Trump added: “I do many such things for Government and, as President, it is my Honor to do so. This is just one of them.”
Earlier in the day, Burgum also shared a close-up of the project and workers inspecting a fresh coat of paint.
He wrote in a post on X: “Thank you @POTUS for investing in our capital. The Reflecting Pool is about to look better than ever!”
The decorative body of water is the centrepiece of the National Mall and was completed in the early 1920s. It is drained periodically, often multiple times a year, to be cleaned and repaired.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump said the pool was "decaying" and plagued by leaks, adding that the renovation could be done more quickly and at a lower cost than traditional reconstruction.
He also complained that the pool “never looked great” because the stone bottom was “not really meant to be a stone that’s underwater for that much of a period of time”.
While he said he initially wanted a turquoise-colored surface “like in the Bahamas", a contractor convinced him when he suggested "American flag blue”.
The makeover comes as Trump plans to improve the appearance of the capital and prepare for the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations.