Trump says beleaguered reflecting pool will ‘probably’ be drained for repairs | Washington DC
Donald Trump said Washington’s troubled Lincoln Memorial pool will “probably” be drained for repairs after algae blooms and peeling paint marred controversial renovation efforts for America’s 250th anniversary celebrations next month.
One Real Social post Late Saturday, Trump said after meeting with pool contractors that they “will probably have to remove most of the water to make the necessary repairs, but they will get them done as quickly as possible.”
He previously acknowledged there were “real problems” with the pool following a rushed $14.2 million renovation.
But he went on to blame vandals for the problems and said “numerous other people have been arrested in connection with the disgraceful Vandalism of our beautiful Reflecting Pool”.
Trump claimed Saturday that several people were arrested for alleged vandalism. Arrested three-time Olympian David Hearn he told the Washington Post When he was arrested on misdemeanor charges by U.S. park police, he said he stopped by the pool just to touch one of the peeling pieces of paint primer to see how it felt.
Trump provided no details about other apparent arrests, and exact details of such arrests remained scant Sunday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Jeanine Pirro, US attorney for the District of Columbia, said on Sunday afternoon that criminal charges for vandalism had been filed and that anyone caught damaging the 2,000ft-long reflecting pool would be fully prosecuted.
“Anyone who is in a position to commit vandalism or attempt vandalism will face the criminal justice system in D.C.,” Pirro told Fox News’ Sunday Briefing.
Pirro added that anyone who adds products that could create algae to a pool could face more serious charges, but he did not provide statistics or specific details on the arrests.
Workers from the U.S. National Park Service sought chemical remedies against the algae bloom, including pouring hydrogen peroxide into the shallow pool, where temperatures are estimated to rise above 85F during the summer months.
On Friday, the day he first raised the issue of vandalism, Trump posted on social media that 75 percent of the algae was gone and accused ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl of “trying to rip the tire off the surface” of the pool.
ABC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In his latest post on the subject, Trump said that on the heels of expensive renovations, including painting the bottom of the long pond on the National Mall in the heart of historic Washington navy, the pool is actually reflecting better than ever.
“It hasn’t looked like this or worked like this since it was first built in 1922, but even then it leaked badly and didn’t work,” he wrote. “Ours,” he added, “worked perfectly, including the mirror-like finish, perfectly reflecting the two Great Monuments it had never had before!”
He was talking about the monument commemorating Abraham Lincoln and the Washington Monument.
He cryptically cited vandals who had likely previously burned or crudely carved “8647” (numerical slang for canceling, or making Trump the 47th president “86”) into the grass near the pool earlier this month.
Trump said the alleged pool damage “didn’t even involve pre-killing a large amount of grass” and accused the vandals of “taking some kind of knife or blade and cutting a 250-foot gash into the beautiful facade and pouring chemicals into the pool,” but again did not provide specific details.
