President Donald Trump said Sunday that he had inspected the Lincoln Reflecting Pool and that work will begin “immediately” to fix the landmark, which has been beset by problems since it recently underwent a $14 million renovation.
“Work will begin immediately on fixing the seriously vandalized Reflecting Pool,” the president said in an early evening post on his social media platform. “I just inspected it and could only say to myself, and those gathered around me, WOW, who would do such a thing?” SICK, DERANGED PEOPLE!”
Trump apparently saw the pool during a flyover on his way back to Washington from Camp David.
On Saturday, Trump said the pool would have to be drained. “We met with contractors today, will probably be forced to release and drain much of the water in order to do the necessary repairs, but will have them done as quickly as possible,” he said on social media.
Trump said Saturday that law enforcement is investigating “vandalism” and suggested that “radical left lunatics” were behind some of the structure’s issues.
Almost immediately after the completion of the renovation, which was carried out at Trump’s behest, the Reflecting Pool’s water turned green from an algae bloom and the new blue paint began peeling off the bottom.
Trump said Friday night that vandals had damaged the pool. “Just like three days ago, they destroyed the grass outside of the Pool, they’ve also done everything possible to hurt the inside surface that was just installed,” Trump wrote on social media, apparently referring to the stenciling of the numbers “86 47” on the lawn near the pool.
He added that vandals were trying to “destroy and demean our beautiful work.”
The president also accused ABC News correspondent Jonathan Karl of “sticking his hand into the Pool, and trying to rip the rubber off of the surface.” Karl showed the peeling blue rubber from the bottom of the pool in a news segment that aired Thursday.
U.S. Park Police responded last week to a report of vandalism over the numbers “86 47” that were written into the grass near the pool. The Trump administration has called the use of those numbers in other instances a threat against the 47th U.S. president, an assertion at least one judge has dismissed.
On Friday, Park Police arrested a man on a misdemeanor charge of destruction of government property, The Washington Post reported. The man, former Olympic canoe competitor David Hearn, told the Post that he had noticed a piece of the pool liner was detached and reached into the water to feel it. He denied grabbing a hose from National Parks Service employees who were pumping out algae, as was claimed on social media.
On Saturday afternoon, Trump posted that Park Police had arrested “multiple” people for vandalizing the pool. “These are very serious crimes having to do with the destruction of National Monuments,” the president wrote. “Years in jail!”
The Park Police had not responded as of Sunday evening to MS NOW’s request for comment on whether anyone else has been arrested regarding the Reflecting Pool.
Trump did not mention Hearn’s arrest or allude to that specific incident in his posts. A conviction on the misdemeanor charge Hearn faces is punishable by fines and up to a year in jail.
The pool renovation work had alarmed some Interior Department staff who expressed concern about the speed and quality of a contractor’s work on the structure, The New York Times reported last month, citing government documents.
The Interior Department resorted to pouring hydrogen peroxide into the water to eliminate the algae, which the pool has long been plagued by. On Wednesday, the department said it had “killed the algae” and that the National Park Service was “vacuuming up the dead algae resting on the bottom of some parts” of the pool.
But the green hue of the water persisted into the weekend. Trump, however, said in his post Friday night that the algae in the pool “is 75% gone” and “will soon be completely remedied.”
The area he said was vandalized will be fixed early next week, he added.
The Interior Department previously said it was investigating the grass vandalism.
Erum Salam contributed to this report.
The post Problematic Reflecting Pool to be drained, Trump says appeared first on MS NOW.
From MS Now.

Leave a Reply