President Donald Trump confirmed in a social media post that the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool had experienced vandalism and intentional sabotage.
The post followed reports of an algae bloom and peeling blue coating material in the pool shortly after a multimillion-dollar renovation project. The renovation, which cost approximately $14 million to $15 million, involved draining the pool, cleaning it, and applying a blue resurfacing material described by the administration as “American flag blue.”
The work was completed in early June, with refilling of the pool beginning around June 4–5, ahead of the United States’ 250th anniversary
“We’ve cleaned, renovated, and beautified over 45 Monuments and Memorials, 28 Statues and 22 Fountains in Washington, D.C. Things are looking really good in our Nation’s Capital. However, we’ve had some real problems with Vandalism at the beautiful Reflecting Pool, which sits between The Washington Monument and The Lincoln Memorial,” the president posted on Truth Social.
“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. No different than the chemicals that were used on the National Mall, they used something similar in the Reflecting Pool to try to destroy and demean our beautiful work,” he added.
He added that the algae had largely been removed as of Saturday morning, while the damage to the pool itself will be fixed by the end of the week.
🚨 NOW: National Guard troops are monitoring the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool like HAWKS after a man was arrested for jumping into the pool RIPPING SEALANT off the bottom
Deranged lefts are literally VANDALIZING the pool just to “get Trump”
INSANE to think this is where we… pic.twitter.com/f1ORXJ8bzV
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) June 19, 2026
Trump linked the claimed damage to prior incidents, including markings of the numbers “8647” etched into grass on the National Mall near the pool in mid-June and similar graffiti found on the drained pool surface during renovation work in May. He stated that law enforcement was investigating the Reflecting Pool matter.
Regarding arrests, U.S. Park Police detained a cyclist at the Reflecting Pool site on Friday. The individual, identified in reports as former Olympian David Hearn, was observed interacting with detached blue liner or coating material.
Hearn stated that he touched the material but did not destroy, break, or peel anything. No additional arrests have been reported in connection with the broader claims of chemical sabotage or intentional damage to the pool surface or surrounding grounds.
