Trump changes story on reflecting pool contractor [View all]

Source: The Hill

05/12/26 5:25 PM ET


President Trump said Tuesday he does not know the contractor that is renovating the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool after previously saying he spoke to a man he knew about it. Restoration of the basin has drawn criticism for the cost of the no-bid contract and the president’s vision, which includes a paint in the color of “American flag blue.”

The project, which Trump first mentioned last month, was awarded to a Virginia firm, Atlantic Industrial Coatings. The work is being done to coincide with the nation’s 250th birthday in July.

The president on Truth Social added that he did not give out the contract. “Also, I didn’t give out the contract, ‘Interior’ did, to a contractor I did not know, and have never used before,” Trump wrote in a post that was criticizing a New York Times story that discussed the rising costs of the project.

But Trump said in the Oval Office last month that he had a “guy who’s unbelievable at doing swimming pools.”. “He looked at it. He called me up. He said, ‘Sir, we can do something on it,’” Trump said while discussing the planned renovation.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/5874959-reflecting-pool-trump-contractor/