President Trump claims arrest over reflecting pool damage
The arrests come after President Donald Trump blamed the damage to the reflecting pool, which he said was planned to be repaired by the Fourth of July.
President Donald Trump announced on June 26 that after weeks of controversy over the reopening of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and ongoing maintenance issues, restoration will resume after Independence Day.
The Reflecting Pool between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument was renovated at a cost of $16 million at the direction of President Trump. Construction began in April and the pool reopened the week of June 8th. The restoration included painting the bottom of the pool in Stars and Stripes Blue, a color chosen by the president himself.
When announcing the plan in April, President Trump described the pool as “filthy” and said it was “leaking like a sieve.”
However, just a few days after the pool was reopened, the algae infestation became so severe that the pool turned green. And the blue paint that had peeled off from the bottom rose to the surface.
The National Park Service began injecting hydrogen peroxide to remove the algae.
Meanwhile, President Trump blamed vandalism for the paint damage and algae.
President Trump said on June 22 that someone put fertilizer in the water to cause algae to grow. He also said vandals had cut a “350-foot slit from end to end” into the pool “very violently” and the paint was peeling off.
National Park Service supports President Trump’s vandalism claims
In response to a lawsuit filed by the Cultural Landscape Foundation in May against the Interior Department to block the project, Frank Lands, the National Park Service’s deputy director of operations, said in court documents that the cuts were made with a “sharp knife.”
“On June 9, 2026, after the restoration project was substantially completed, the U.S. Park Police responded to an NPS report of damage to the reflecting pool, including damage to the reflecting pool’s foam sealant, which had been cut with a sharp knife or razor, and destruction of peeling surface material,” he said in a June 24 filing.
“Additionally, the tops of approximately 70 fence posts were thrown into the pool,” Lands said.
In a June 23 post on Truth Social, President Trump said six people had been arrested and seven were charged with “causing harm.”
He brought up the topic again during a speech at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s annual “Pathway to the Majority” event June 26 at the Washington Hilton.
“These are the people who are sick. They tore a 350-foot-long scar on the side of the reflecting pool. These are the people we’re dealing with,” Trump said. “I’m going to fix it as soon as the Fourth of July is over. I’m just going to drain it a little bit and fix it.”
