The damage occurred after President Trump completed a $14.7 million renovation of the National Mall’s iconic pool between the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument.
President Trump says reflecting pool cuts were ‘very violent’
President Trump said the reflecting pool was slashed with a knife, causing damage that may require draining and repairs.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump blames vandalism for damage to the reflecting pool (algae and peeling paint) and says five people have been arrested.
“This is an act of vandalism,” President Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on June 22. “There’s a 290-foot, 300-foot cut. Probably some kind of cutter or knife.”
“They slashed very violently,” he added.
President Trump referred questions about the criminal investigation and proof of intentional damage to the pool to the National Park Service, which manages the National Mall where the pool is located, and its parent agency, the Department of the Interior. Neither agency immediately responded to USA TODAY’s requests for comment.
Members of the D.C. Task Force, a group of federal and local law enforcement officials, arrested five people for vandalizing government property at Reflecting Pool from June 17 to June 21, U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Brady McCarron told USA TODAY.
“Please remember that the destruction or attempted destruction of such property carries a 10 year prison sentence. This sentence will be carried out in full!” President Trump said on social media.
Atlantic Industrial Coatings, the company that renovated the pool, said the areas requiring repairs are “a small portion of a 7-acre megaproject and do not indicate liner failure.”
The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority issued a permit to drain the 600-foot-long rectangular pool for repairs.
“It’s not major damage, but we’ll probably have to drain it and repair it,” Trump said.
Reflecting pools are one of several projects around Washington, D.C., that President Trump has a personal interest in. Other projects include the restoration of the White House Ballroom, the Arc de Triomphe, and fountains throughout the city.
But the no-bid pool project has gained attention after President Trump announced it would cost $1.8 million and be completed within a week. The price rose to $14.7 million and the project was ruined by algae and liner damage.
Trump also blamed the vandalism on algae that turned the water green above the pool’s blue American flag liner.
President Trump said, “When you put fertilizer in the water, algae grows.” “They did something to create the algae. But it doesn’t matter because it’s being purified. It’s dead and lying on the bottom. They’re taking it out. They’re vacuuming it out.”
President Trump complained about “crazy pro-algae” protesters on social media.
Contributed by: Reuters
