President Trump is refuting a report that his administration awarded a no-bid contract for repairs to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to a company that has done work on the president’s private golf club.
Mr. Trump said The New York Times is “constantly making major mistakes and incorrect predictions at every path along the way,” saying that the outlet is trying to “justify” former President Obama and Vice President Biden’s “expensively botched attempt at fixing the long broken, unsightly and unsanitary Reflecting Pool.”
The outlet reported that the Trump administration awarded a $6.9 million no-bid contract to Virginia firm Atlantic Industrial Coatings, which reportedly has repaired swimming pools at Mr. Trump’s golf club in Sterling, Virginia.
The president said on Truth Social that he did not “give out the contract,” but the Department of the Interior did, “to a contractor I did not know, and have never used before.”
His comment appears to contradict his own public remarks, as he told reporters, “I have a guy who’s unbelievable at doing swimming pools,” adding that he consulted three companies that had worked on his swimming pools. The Times said it could not independently confirm that Atlantic Industrial Coatings had worked for Trump’s golf club.
The report, citing federal records, said the cost of the Reflecting Pool repairs and renovation has surged from $1.8 million to as much as $13.1 million. It said the Interior Department added $6.2 million to the previous cost, including a 20% profit margin for the contractor.
An Interior spokesperson said that the contract price “reflects the effort necessary to expedite the timeline of completing the leak prevention coating project — more people, more materials, more equipment and longer hours ahead of our 250th.”
The president said renovation of the historic landmark aims to fix leaks, reinforce structural joints and repaint the bottom a vibrant “American flag blue” to “beautify” the nation’s capital ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary in July.
The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has undergone major structural renovations and frequent maintenance, including the Obama administration’s two-year overhaul that replaced the failing concrete basin.
The roughly $34 million rehabilitation to fix severe structural, sinking and sanitation issues successfully replaced the sinking structure with a new concrete basin and installed a sustainable water-treatment system, but it failed to fully eliminate chronic issues with algae growth and water leakage.
“They squandered at least 55 Million Dollars haplessly trying, with no chance of success, to get the Reflecting Pool to work,” Mr. Trump said. “Instead, they made it worse, keeping it closed for years, and ending up with a leaking, smelling ode to both of their failed Administrations. It was an embarrassment to Washington, D.C., and to our Country, itself. Despite the vast sums of money spent, they never got the pool to work, and cosmetically it was a total mess for all to see.
“Now, along comes ’TRUMP,’ who is asked by many patriots if I can fix it. The answer is a resounding, YES, and for a ’tiny’ fraction of the cost!” he added.
He argued that this restoration project is not “just a paint job,” but instead a “deeply complicated work of smart and beautiful construction” that is saving millions.
“Instead of taking 4 years to build, at a cost, granite pavers and all, of 400 Million Dollars, we could construct a far superior Reflecting Pool for 5 or 6 Million Dollars, and could complete the project in 2 weeks rather than 4 years. What a difference in time and money, and for a far superior end result!” Mr. Trump said. “It won’t leak, it will shine, and be the pride of Washington, D.C., for decades to come. I saved more than 390 Million Dollars, and 4 years of no ’mess,’ and was, of course, given no credit by the biased New York Times.”
• Mary McCue Bell can be reached at mbell@washingtontimes.com.
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