On April 3, the Trump administration entered a no-bid contract with Atlantic Industrial Coatings to alter the color of the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool to blue, because it becomes green during the summer due to algae.
Trump lied that he did not know the contractor. Atlantic Industrial Coatings, partly owned by Curtis Wood, worked on his Virginia golf courses. Trump’s boast that he could renovate the reflecting pool for only “5 or 6 Million Dollars [sic]” quickly collapsed, as a New York Times review of federal records found that the costs ballooned to $13.1 million. The Department of the Interior added $6.2 million to the previous cost of the contract.
Trump’s complaint that former President Barack Obama’s attempt to renovate the pool cost $35 million is a false equivalence. While the cost referenced by Trump was correct, Obama sought a total restoration of the pool, rather than a simple paint job.
The Obama administration decided to reconstruct the entire reflecting pool from the ground up, including a new support structure, concrete walking paths, nighttime lighting and, critically, a new pumping system that changed the pool’s water source from the city’s reserves to the Tidal Basin, the reservoir south of the National Mall known for the cherry trees that line its banks.
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There may be several illegal activities within this one incident. The federal government is typically required to seek out multiple bids for contracts, which the Trump administration failed to do via “an exemption meant to prevent ‘serious injury, financial or other, to the government.'” Unlike Obama, he did not get approval from the Commission of Fine Arts.
Worse yet, a paint job may not fix the greening issue. Tim Auerhahn, chair of the Aquatic Council, noted that painting will not solve the issue. He also warned that Trump’s visit to the pool via motorcade may have exacerbated the its leaking, a problem that the pool has repeatedly experienced. What is more important in this regard is the filtration system, which would be key in reducing the effects of algae.
