When will the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool be repaired? What we know

President Donald Trump said June 26 that the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool repairs will resume after Independence Day, following weeks of controversary surrounding its reopening and ongoing maintenance issues.

The Reflecting Pool, located between ⁠the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington ​Monument, underwent a $16 million makeover at the direction of Trump. Work began in April and the pool was reopened during the week of June 8. The repairs included painting the bottom of the pool with a color the president picked himself: “American flag blue.”

While announcing the project in April, Trump described the pool as "filthy” and said it was "leaking like a sieve."

However, just days after the pool reopened, an aggressive algae invasion turned the pool green. Then there was the peeling blue paint from the bottom that rose to the surface.

The National Park Service began pouring gallons of hydrogen peroxide to clear the algae.

Meanwhile, Trump has blamed vandalism for the paint damage and the algae.

Somebody had put fertilizer in the water to create algae, Trump said on June 22. He also said vandals had "very violently" cut a "350-foot slit from one end to the other" in the pool, causing the paint to peel.

National Park Service backs Trump’s claim of vandalism

In response to a May lawsuit filed by the Cultural Landscape Foundation against the Department of the Interior to stop the project, Frank Lands, deputy director of operations at the National Park Service, declared in a court document that a cut had been made with a “sharp knife.”

“On June 9, 2026, after the rehabilitation project was substantially complete, the U.S. Park Police responded to an NPS report of damage to the Reflecting Pool, including a cut in the caulk over the Reflecting Pool’s foam sealant that was cut with a sharp knife or razor and destruction of delaminating surface material," he said in a June 24 filing.

“In addition, approximately 70 fence post tops were thrown into the pool,” according to Lands.

Six people have been arrested, and seven people have been cited "for the damage they did," Trump said in a Truth Social post on June 23.

He once again brought up the subject while ‌addressing the Faith and Freedom Coalition's annual "Road to Majority" event at the Washington Hilton on June 26.

“These people are sick. They ripped a scar 350 feet long through the side of the reflecting pool. These are the people we're dealing with,” said Trump. “We'll fix it right after the 4th of July. Kinda let the water out, just fix it.”