Trump says DC reflecting pool repairs may not be done in time for 4 July | Donald Trump
Donald Trump has acknowledged that repairs to the algae-affected reflecting pool in Washington, D.C., may not be completed in time for July 4, when the president plans to hold a massive celebration on the National Mall to mark the nation’s 250th birthday.
The iconic body of water began to fill with algae blooms and peeling paint after the Trump administration ordered a $14.2 million renovation to turn the “American flag” blue; This led the president to claim – without providing evidence – that knife-wielding vandals had harmed him.
He reiterated the allegation in a social media post on Tuesday, while indicating the repair work may not be completed in time for the country’s semiquincentennial.
“We will release some of the water just before or after the Fourth of July to accomplish permanent repairs,” Trump said.
He also claimed that six people were arrested and seven others were detained “for the damage they caused to our nation’s now beautiful Reflecting Pool.”
He blamed vandalism on a 350-foot gash that was “made with a very sharp knife or razor” and created “numerous cuts over a very long length of 350 feet.” Such “cuts” were not seen during journalists’ visits in recent days.
“This was done deliberately and criminally, and someone probably had to work hard under the cover of night to create a situation like this,” Trump wrote. “Likewise, the small area at the bottom of the pool was cut away and forcefully lifted from the surface, leaving very rough, jagged edges,” he wrote.
It’s unclear how such extensive vandalism was carried out at the reflecting pool that overlooks the Lincoln Memorial and is frequently patrolled by police.
Washington Post reported On Monday, over the weekend, a dead duck was found floating in a reflecting pool, and two more carcasses were found in a pond about 70 meters away in Constitution Gardens.
The ducks often moved back and forth between the two bodies of water, and the causes of the deaths were unknown. While the Post was unable to determine what happened to the body of the duck found in the reflecting pool, an animal rescue group retrieved two carcasses found in Constitution Garden and planned to perform an autopsy.
The bungled renovation of the reflecting pool comes amid Trump’s push to spruce up monuments in the capital ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations. The White House announced plans for a fireworks celebration billed as the largest in history, along with a speech by Trump on the National Mall.
Democrats decried the effort as wasteful and a symbol of an administration unconcerned with Americans’ economic concerns. They attributed it to Trump’s parallel efforts to build a ballroom in the demolished East Wing of the White House and his efforts to quietly funnel taxpayer money into a project he insists will be paid for by private donations.
