WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump spoke in front of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to celebrate the reopening of the nation’s historic landmark.
“This project should be a project that unites all Americans,” Trump told a select group of National Park Service and National Park Police on Nov. 2.
“It should be something we’re very proud of.”
Restoration of the world’s largest reflecting pool, measuring more than 2,000 feet long and 167 feet wide, included updating pipes and valves, waterproofing seals, installing an aeration system to mitigate algae growth, and pressure-washing the walkways. The surface was coated and painted “American flag blue.”
“We did something that people have been trying to do since 1922,” Trump said, referencing the pool’s original construction date.
“They’ve been trying to figure this one out for a long time.”
Designed by architect Henry Bacon to serve as a “water mirror” between the Lincoln Memorial, which he was also responsible for, and the Washington Monument, the reflecting pool leaked since its opening.
With a capacity of 6.75 million gallons, the pool’s weight caused it to settle, leading to extensive leaks, which were calculated at approximately 500,000 gallons per week by the 1980s.
“They were unable to find the leak, and it became a very dirty, filthy, stagnant mess. It was a real problem,” Trump said.
“It’s a work of art in many ways, but it was a work of art that never worked. But now it will work.”
His administration prioritized beautification of the nation’s capital to coincide with America’s 250th anniversary.
The pool was temporarily opened before the July 4 holiday, but construction issues prompted officials to close the area and repair damage.
The president displayed photos of slashes and marks on the sealant, which he said were evidence of intentional damage.
“The vandals went to work, but we also went to work on the vandals,” Trump said, highlighting acts uncovered this summer, including the addition of fertilizer to spur algae growth.
Cameras are now installed along the waterway, and park police were instructed to monitor for any attempts to deface the pool.
“While past administrations tore down statues, allowed thugs and murderers to run wild, and let our capital fall into shameful disrepair, we’re treating our capital city with the love and the honor that it deserves,” Trump said.
He noted 83 statues and fountains have been repaired across Washington over the past year. Many of the water features had been dry for years before Trump ordered them restored.
Other upgrades planned for the area include a promenade from the Lincoln Memorial to the Potomac River, the National Garden of Heroes with hundreds of new statues, and the Triumphal Arch, which the president promised would be the grandest in the world while also serving as a military complex with drone capability and sniper perches.
Improvements to the East Potomac Golf Course underway are slated to turn the public course into one suitable for professional golf tournaments, including the U.S. Open and the Ryder Cup, according to Trump.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told the audience other governors and mayors could use the president’s work in the capital as a blueprint for success in their states and cities.
“Any one of them could be standing up today talking about cleaner monuments, and less homelessness, more care for their people, less graffiti, and lower crime numbers,” Burgum said. “Any city in America can do it. It’s a choice.”
The president also used the occasion to address what he described as “the most important midterm, I believe, in our lifetime,” for the last time before the nation heads to the polls on Tuesday.
Trump asked voters to remember his accomplishments, citing record-low poverty rates, the highest personal incomes in history, more Americans working than at any time before, and all-time high exports, among other achievements.
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