Trump says Reflecting Pool has been drained and will be 'put back into service soon' [View all]
Source: CNN Politics
PUBLISHED Jul 14, 2026, 12:28 AM ET
President Donald Trump said the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was drained Monday to make repairs and that it “will be refilled and put back into service soon,” again claiming that vandals gashed the pool’s lining. CNN observed that much of the water had been drained, revealing dried sediment, algae and some debris on what was supposed to be a freshly renovated landmark painted what Trump previously called “American flag blue.
Since Trump called for the pool’s renovation in April, the more than $14 million project has been plagued by massive algae blooms, green-hued water, a chipping bottom and allegations of vandalism. The president said Monday night on Truth Social, “We drained the beautiful ‘Reflecting Pool’ today in order to fix the scars and damage that was done by the Vandals two weeks ago.”
“The slashes were 300 yards long, and the floor of the pool was cut and then pulled upward, with great force, by these thugs,” Trump said in the post. Trump’s latest claim that the gashes in the lining were “300 yards long” — which would be 900 feet, or the length of three football fields — is considerably longer than his past claims, which have increased in length several times.
He first called it a 250-foot cut and later claimed there were “actually numerous slashes over a very long 350 foot length.” A CNN crew visited the pool late Monday afternoon and did not notice any obvious signs of long gashes in the recently installed lining, but they were not able to access the full length of the pool because of fencing that has been installed around much of the landmark.
A person stops to look at the partially-drained Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Monday, July 13, 2026, in Washington.
(Jose Luis Magana/AP)
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/14/politics/reflecting-pool-drained-repairs-trump
Looks like the "liner" (or what was left of it) was removed.
ETA - screen grab from just over 5 minutes ago -
= new reply since forum marked as read