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USAfter D.C.'s Reflecting Pool gets repainted, visitors ask: What changed? - NPR shows it's TDS by refusing to see the difference between filth and beauty
Workers refill the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Friday, after a weeks-long project to resurface and repaint the basin.
Rahmat Gul/AP
WASHINGTON — Water is flowing back into the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, after a controversial painting job kept it closed for weeks. And to many onlookers, it doesn't look much different.
"The pool gets completed at 4 o'clock and the water will start to flow in … and it's going to be beautiful," President Trump told reporters in the Oval office on Wednesday.
The next day, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum shared a video of water bubbling up through a grate on the freshly-darkened pool floor. Trump had the pool's surface darkened to a shade he calls "American flag blue." For the last century, he's said, the pool was "just gray … the color of concrete and stone."
By Friday morning, the 2,028 foot-long shallow pool had collected a stripe of water down the middle, just wide enough to reflect the Washington Monument across from it. The refilling continued under the bright sun, as one worker stood in the middle of the pool, with his pants rolled up above his knees, wielding a hose.
As the temperature neared 90 degrees, tourists, cyclists and joggers paused at the top of the nearby steps to snap photos and observe the process. Many welcomed the return of the water — and the ducks that play in it — but said they couldn't immediately tell a difference in the color.
"The more water it fills, the more similar it looks [to before]," said Luisa Córdoba, a D.C. resident and avid runner who says she's been coming to check on the pool every day since work started. "I'm just happy it's not that bright blue that we saw the first days, which was so alarming … if it stays like this, it's fine."
Early renderings — as well as preliminary coats of paint when the project started in late April — had critics worried the historic landmark would end up looking more like a swimming pool. But Friday's observers didn't find that to be the case.
"I'm colorblind, so it doesn't look blue — yet," said Terry Barzanti, a Maryland resident who works nearby.
"I'm not colorblind and it doesn't look blue," laughed his coworker Edgar Sadsad, who found it more grey.
Other passersby described it as closer to black, and said the difference might be more noticeable once the pool is fully refilled. Even so, Sadsad and Barzanti were among those who praised the project, saying the pool already looked cleaner and more appealing.
Trump has for months complained about the state of the pool, saying he made it a priority after an unnamed friend visiting from Germany called it "filthy" and "not representative of the country," according to the president.
The pool, which first opened in 1923, last underwent major renovations between 2010 and 2012. But it has continued to suffer from broken pipes and water leaks that merit costly refills, according to the Department of the Interior.
Trump has said this project sealed crevices in the stone to prevent leaks, and removed 12 truckloads of garbage from the pool, though it's not clear that it addressed the broken pipes.
"It'll last for 50 to 100 years before you have to do anything with it," he said.
The reflecting pool, at the base of the Lincoln Memorial, previously reflected blue in certain conditions such as this day in November 2025.
Andrew Leyden/Getty Images
Questions remain about the project's funding
The resurfacing took significantly longer than Trump's initial estimate.
He said in late April that the project would be done in a week or two, though the Department of the Interior told NPR it would take closer to a month.
In mid-May, the nonprofit Cultural Landscape Foundation sued the administration to stop work on the pool, saying it had bypassed federally required historic preservation reviews. A judge heard arguments later that month, but hadn't made a decision by the time the administration informed the court on Wednesday that work had been completed.
The project also appears to cost more than Trump said it would.
He gave the price tag as $2 million, which he said, without specifics, was significantly less than he had been quoted previously. But Interior Department records obtained by The New York Times show the administration plans to pay $13.1 million to Atlantic Industrial Coatings, the Virginia firm that Trump picked for the project.
"It's kind of sad where our tax dollars are going. I mean, it was fine before, by my knowledge," said Samantha Sorokin of Arlington, Va., who was taking her parents on a tour.
It's not clear how much of the money is coming from taxpayers. A large sign affixed to the construction site fence, on National Park Service letterhead, informed visitors that "these improvements are being completed using your fee dollars."
(TheWashington Post reported this week that the Trump administration is diverting at least $90 million from national park entry fees to fund its July 4th fireworks display and other D.C. beautification projects.)
When asked for comment about the cost and where the money is coming from, the Department of the Interior — the park service's parent agency — told NPR that it has "many funding sources available to spend on deferred maintenance."
"Unlike Barack Obama who spent millions upon millions in taxpayer-funded Great Recession recovery aid that should have gone to struggling families, the Trump administration is looking at different funding mechanisms which include endowment funds and revenue brought in from the sale of park passes," the unnamed spokesperson wrote over email.
The two-year renovation of the reflecting pool that ended in 2012 was funded by $34 million from an Obama-era economic stimulus package.
A sign outside the reflecting pool informs visitors that their national park fees helped fund the project.
Rachel Treisman/NPR
Trump's campaign to spruce up D.C.
Trump is hoping to make many changes to D.C., ranging from massive undertakings like his proposed triumphal arch (which got preliminary approval from a second federal agency this week) to smaller changes like installing new statues and restoring park fountains.
"We have many monuments and fountains all over Washington, and we're just about completed with all of them," he said Wednesday.
The Interior Department referred NPR to a White House post on X listing those accomplishments, which include "500 instances of graffiti removed," "134 rat-resistant trash cans installed" and "250 truckloads of debris from ponds removed."
Much of that work is being carried out by National Guard troops deployed to D.C., whose numbers are set to double ahead of the country's 250th birthday celebrations on and around July 4th. That's also the deadline — or at least impetus — for many of Trump's renovation projects.
Maria Sorokin, who was visiting her daughter from Pennsylvania, is skeptical that the 250th anniversary warrants major changes like the reflecting pool resurfacing.
"It is a special anniversary and it should be spruced up, but I'm not sure if this was necessary," she said, looking at the pool slowly refilling. "If it's not broken, don't fix it."
But some area residents, like Barzanti, embrace the cleanup and beautification efforts.
"We walk down here for lunch breaks," he said. "People come from all over the world to see our nation's capital. So we should show it off, we should take care of it."
Some changes are going over better than others.
Several locals at the reflecting pool, including Córdoba, mentioned that they were thrilled to see the fountains at Meridian Hill Park — a popular spot about 1.5 miles north of the White House — flowing with water for the first time in seven years.
Maryellen Thornton, who lives near the park, says the fountain restoration has been "amazing for the community," describing the picnic blanket-packed grass "like nirvana." It's also one of the reasons she and her husband Brad Thornton came to see the reflecting pool.
"We're just fascinated with how fabulous it is to have all of these water features being restored in the district," she said. "It just brings so much happiness to everybody."
Brad is also excited to see the return of water to the fountain outside Union Station, Washington's major transport hub, and hopes the newly filled reflecting pool will build on that momentum.
"A little bit of spraying water goes a long way," he said. "It shouldn't be about politics. It's just about enjoying it. We're in the city. We need some green space."
Some Euro off the boat can no more be one of us then a pajeet. It needs to be pointed out. We are a people who are here. Foreigners, even if they are white, cannot be us.
I dunno man, that's a bit much. If you trace it back far enough, we're all immigrants. That doesn't mean we shouldn't enforce existing immigration laws, or exercise greater quality control over who we let become naturalized citizens, but I wouldn't say that someone from somewhere else could never become an American necessarily.
You can also add the Chinese being obsessed with money, since the CCP killed any sense of morality for everyday Chinese people, leaving them with money as the only thing to pursue.
I dunno man, that's a bit much. If you trace it back far enough, we're all immigrants. That doesn't mean we shouldn't enforce existing immigration laws, or exercise greater quality control over who we let become naturalized citizens, but I wouldn't say that someone from somewhere else could never become an American necessarily.
I am not an immigrant. I was born of this land. I was raised upon it. I have no loyalty to Scotland, even if the bones of my ancestors remain on Skye. I am not a Scot. I am an American. I can be nothing else. If I am deprived of my home, where can I go? Back to Scotland? A land foreign to me? Full of people who are not mine? I cannot. I have no place but where I am. In America. I am an American. I can be nothing else. I can go, nowhere else.
The idea that I am an immigrant to the land of my nativity is horrific. I am no such thing. I am born of the land, it is my land. The land of my nativity. I can go nowhere else.
Made all the worse by the fact that even Scotland itself is now being handed over to the enemies of my religion. Scotland belongs to everyone apparently. Anyone can be a scot. Or a Briton. So even if I give up my identity as an American, what can I retreat to? The same dissociative identity that belongs to everyone? But not me?
I refuse. If the line must be drawn here, in North America, then let it be drawn. I will die upon it. I am an American. And I will defend America.
If only my tax money were spent like this all the times instead of purchasing resources to enable gorilla niggers to multiply exponentially. We should be ashamed for allowing our nation’s capital to deteriorate so badly. Glad to see Trump’s ego have positive consequences.
I am not an immigrant. I was born of this land. I was raised upon it. I have no loyalty to Scotland, even if the bones of my ancestors remain on Skye. I am not a Scot. I am an American. I can be nothing else. If I am deprived of my home, where can I go? Back to Scotland? A land foreign to me? Full of people who are not mine? I cannot. I have no place but where I am in. In America. I am an American. I can be nothing else. I can go, nowhere else.
The idea that I am an immigrant to the land of my nativity is horrific. I am no such thing. I am born of the land, it is my land. The land of my nativity. I can go nowhere else.
Yeah, but, the USA isn't really an ethnic nation in the way that European nations used to be, (and still should be in my opinion) or the way certain nations in Asia still are, we're a nation of euromutts, mixed with a bit of the injuns. I'd argue that, in theory at least, there's no reason why a person from another nation couldn't come here, assimilate into the national/local culture and become a proper American citizen in attitude and belief.
It doesn't always work out that way in practice, obviously, and we've been way too lenient with certain recent arrivals, but I can't quite get behind this idea that the only real Americans are the ones who were born here.
Nothing is more political. Especially when it comes to the capital city. The capital is a statement of intent of the ruling power. How the capital presents is how the entire nation presents.
@mindlessobserver is being more grandiose than necessary about this topic, but he is right. If people see your nation's capitol and it's a dump, they're going to view your entire country as a glorified landfill and not much else. NPR can suck my nuts if they don't like that DC is getting cleaned up, it's been an embarrassment for decades at this point.
You guys are looking way too far into my statement. Maintenance is something that should be done all the time regardless of who is in office. That's why making it political - Dem v Rep - is retarded.
You guys are looking way too far into my statement. Maintenance is something that should be done all the time regardless of who is in office. That's why making it political - Dem v Rep - is retarded.
Yeah, but, the USA isn't really an ethnic nation in the way that European nations used to be, (and still should be in my opinion) or the way certain nations in Asia still are, we're a nation of euromutts, mixed with a bit of the injuns. I'd argue that, in theory at least, there's no reason why a person from another nation couldn't come here, assimilate into the national/local culture and become a proper American citizen in attitude and belief.
It doesn't always work out that way in practice, obviously, and we've been way too lenient with certain recent arrivals, but I can't quite get behind this idea that the only real Americans are the ones who were born here.
I have been asked many times to explain the American identity. Every time, I am reminded of this song. Its the song of the Union Cause during the American Civil War incidentally. It gets no play time these days. For MANY reasons.
I have been asked many times to explain the American identity. Every time, I am reminded of this song. Its the song of the Union Cause during the American Civil War incidentally. It gets no play time these days. For MANY reasons.
Fair enough, but I'd argue that people from other places can value individual rights and liberties like we do here, (some of us anyway, heh) so I'm not entirely sure what your point is, no offense intended.
Fair enough, but I'd argue that people from other places can value individual rights and liberties like we do here, (some of us anyway, heh) so I'm not entirely sure what your point is, no offense intended.
I've met many British people who value individual rights. But not a one would look upon the expanse of the Appalachia in spiritual wonder from a distance as they drive on Interstate 64. Not a one of them would watch the above quoted video and feel anything more then some sort of interest in how an alien thinks either.
I can speak the same language to them. Indeed I did speak it to them. But I knew instinctively that though me and them spoke the same language, we were not the same people. We would NEVER be the same people. And that is fine. Because I was just an American in London at a family reunion. The idea of being forced to "go back" is horrific to me. I have nowhere to go back to. I would rather die. And if the choice is made for me, I will die on America, and take as many people with me as I can.
I've met many British people who value individual rights. But not a one would look upon the expanse of the Appalachia in spiritual wonder from a distance as they drive on Interstate 64. Not a one of them would watch the above quoted video and feel anything more then some sort of interest in how an alien thinks either.
I can speak the same language to them. Indeed I did speak it to them. But I new instinctively that though me and them spoke the same language, we were not the same people. We would NEVER be the same people. And that is fine. Because I was just an American in London at a family reunion.
Personally, I think valuing individual rights and liberties are the most important part of being an American, so I disagree with what you're saying here at least somewhat.
Personally, I think valuing individual rights and liberties are the most important part of being an American, so I disagree with what you're saying here at least somewhat.
Its not enough to value rights. That is a statement of political philosophy. Its not enough to claim a possession to the land. The American people do not claim the constitution as their creator. The constitution is our instrument. The American people created IT. IT did not create us. We, as Americans, are independent of the Constitution, and all the rights that it gives. All the philosophies it espouses. If the constitution is torn to pieces and all the religions of this land broken, the American people will remain. For we are a people that are beyond belief, doctrines, and paper.
Our enemies ignore this fact at their peril.
So, rejoice. The current manifestation of this clash is the American people fixing their capital city up and turning water fountains on, that have been silent for three decades. You do not want to live in an America where the American people decide its time to kill to get what they want. For when or if that time comes, we will absolutely do so. North America is the land of our first breath. It is wonderous, and it is cruel. And the American people are as wonderous and cruel as the land that birthed us.
We genocided the natives. We burned Asia and Europe. In fire and nuclear fury. With one hand, and in the other we raised up.
Forget who we are at your peril. We are the children of the new world. The great expanse, the icy north and the hellish desert waste. We are a people that will not be collared. The very attempt to do so will kill those attempting, and kill all those who aid them. And their wives, and their children, and all of them unto the seventh generation. If we want to get biblical.
Its not enough to value rights. That is a statement of political philosophy. Its not enough to claim a possession to the land. The American people do not claim the constitution as their creator. The constitution is our instrument. The American people created IT. IT did not create us. We, as Americans, are independent of the Constitution, and all the rights that it gives. All the philosophies it espouses. If the constitution is torn to pieces and all the religions of this land broken, the American people will remain. For we are a people that are beyond belief, doctrines, and paper.
America isn't just the land, or the people, or the borders, but an idea given form.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Isn't removing garbage something those lefties support as their green initiatives? Why does necessary maintaining is criticized but Obama spending 10x that for an ugly turd building is okay?
I am not an immigrant. I was born of this land. I was raised upon it. I have no loyalty to Scotland, even if the bones of my ancestors remain on Skye. I am not a Scot. I am an American. I can be nothing else. If I am deprived of my home, where can I go? Back to Scotland? A land foreign to me? Full of people who are not mine? I cannot. I have no place but where I am. In America. I am an American. I can be nothing else. I can go, nowhere else.
The idea that I am an immigrant to the land of my nativity is horrific. I am no such thing. I am born of the land, it is my land. The land of my nativity. I can go nowhere else.
Made all the worse by the fact that even Scotland itself is now being handed over to the enemies of my religion. Scotland belongs to everyone apparently. Anyone can be a scot. Or a Briton. So even if I give up my identity as an American, what can I retreat to? The same dissociative identity that belongs to everyone? But not me?
I refuse. If the line must be drawn here, in North America, then let it be drawn. I will die upon it. I am an American. And I will defend America.
