© picture alliance / NurPhoto | Allison Bailey
According to U.S. President Donald Trump, the deplorable condition of the Reflecting Pool at the Lincoln Memorial is not his fault, but rather the result of vandalism.
President Donald Trump said that the algae in the Reflecting Pool, the peeling coating, and other problems were the result of vandalism, and not of the $16.4 million accelerated renovation he ordered.
He also blamed the Obama administration for the long-standing issues at this site, which has been plagued by leaks and algae problems for years. Between 2010 and 2012, the Obama administration had already attempted to resolve the problems, spending more than $35 million on them. Yet the problems remained unresolved.
The Trump administration wanted the renovation completed by July 4, the U.S. Independence Day. To that end, they awarded the contracts without a competitive bidding process. The first contract, worth $14.7 million, went to Atlantic Industrial Coatings to apply a waterproof sealing coating in the color “American flag blue.” The second contract, worth $1.7 million, went to Greenwater Services for the installation of a new water treatment system.
Vandalism
According to Trump, the renovations went smoothly, but the current problems with the reflecting pool between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial are now the result of vandalism.
“They put fertilizer in the water, as someone said,” Trump explained. “If you put fertilizer in the water, you get algae. They did something to cause the algae.”
The U.S. president also has an explanation for the peeling coating: “I can’t help it if someone goes in there with a knife and starts chopping it to pieces.” According to him, this was “probably done with a utility knife or some kind of knife.”
Five arrests
Meanwhile, five people have been arrested in connection with this incident, including 67-year-old David Carter Hearn, a former U.S. Olympic athlete. He said he stopped at the Reflecting Pool on Friday and picked up a piece of the coating while looking at the basin. He was arrested for vandalism of government property. “I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, I suppose,” he told the New York Times.
Picture: © picture alliance / NurPhoto | Allison Bailey