Trump Plans to Resurface Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool Bottom in Blue

President Trump’s latest renovation push has extended to one of Washington’s most recognizable landmarks: the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Speaking with reporters Thursday, Trump said his administration intends to install a new surface over the bottom of the pool, covering its existing stone floor. He described the swimming pool-like material as the “latest and greatest filament” and said it will be finished in “American flag blue.”

Built in the 1920s, the Reflecting Pool and its surroundings were comprehensively renovated in 2012, paid for by $34 million in Obama-era stimulus funding. The National Park Service has carried out some renovations since then, and the pool is also periodically drained to scrub out algae, garbage, goose droppings and other detritus.

The comments came during an Oval Office event focused on drug prices, where Trump said he was troubled by what he called the “terrible” state of the pool. The historic site has served as the backdrop for defining national moments, including Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 March on Washington and other major gatherings at the Lincoln Memorial.

Trump estimated the work would take about a week and cost approximately $1.5 million. He said crews had already started work on the stones and began applying the new “industrial-grade” surface on Thursday.

“You’re going to end up with a beautiful, beautiful reflecting pool, the way it’s supposed to be,” he said while displaying photos of the work in progress. “Much better than it ever was, actually.”

By Friday, Trump had shared images on social media showing the renovation moving forward.

Trump said the idea drew on his experience as a New York real estate developer, a period during which he claimed to have built more than 100 swimming pools. He called the project “essentially a pool surface” and said he advised one contractor to “think of it as a swimming pool.” The Reflecting Pool’s basin spans more than 300,000 square feet and is roughly the length of 12 Olympic-size pools.

When it came time to select the color, Trump said an unnamed contractor steered him away from a Bahamas-style turquoise, suggesting instead that “American flag blue” would be a more fitting choice.

Mr. Trump has pledged to deal with the Reflecting Pool in the past. In November, he posted to social media a video of garbage strewn next to the pool surface, writing: “Study it hard because you won’t be seeing this Biden filth and incompetence much longer!”

Earlier this month, he wrote that he and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum will fix the pool “at a fraction of the cost” that the administration was initially quoted.

Since returning to the presidency last year, Mr. Trump has sought to put his stamp on major landmarks in the D.C. area, making changes large (tearing down the White House’s East Wing to make way for a ballroom) and small (adding a “Presidential Walk of Fame” to the West Wing).

He has also proposed overhauling the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, building a gigantic triumphal arch across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial and painting the Eisenhower Executive Office Building white.

Mr. Trump has pitched the renovation projects as a way to beautify the city and address long-overdue maintenance needs, and has argued that his planned White House ballroom will serve as a much-needed event space that can be used for state dinners and other functions.

But some of the projects have drawn criticism from preservation groups and congressional Democrats who argue that he is unilaterally changing — and in some cases, tearing down — iconic public spaces without sufficient input from Congress or the public.

The president has also faced criticism over the funding mechanism for the ballroom, paid for with hundreds of millions in private donations, and for a decision by the Kennedy Center’s board last year to add Mr. Trump to the center’s name.