The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is being drained. Again.

Crews returned this week to empty the water from one of Washington’s most recognizable landmarks, as President Trump’s renovation project blows past its original deadline and accumulates an increasingly awkward list of complications — peeling paint, algae, criminal charges, and a congressional investigation.

The pool was supposed to be finished by July 4, in time for the nation’s 250th birthday. It was not.

A Century-Long Fix That Lasted Weeks

Trump initially described the renovation in grand terms, suggesting the improvements would hold for a hundred years.

Reality intervened considerably faster.

Within weeks of the project’s supposed completion last month, the water was overtaken by an algae bloom. Around the same time, pieces of the newly applied coating began separating from the pool’s floor.

The president has attributed the peeling to vandals. Critics offer a simpler explanation: the work was done badly.

What Burgum Says Is Happening Now

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, whose department oversees the National Park Service, addressed the latest draining in an interview with conservative podcaster Katie Miller — the wife of deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller.

Burgum framed the operation as routine and planned. He also raised another factor: debris left behind by the enormous Independence Day fireworks display over the National Mall.

His summary of the plan was blunt. Drain the water. Clean up the fireworks residue. Repair the vandalism. Refill it.

How This Started

Trump announced his intention to overhaul the Reflecting Pool in the spring, with an explicit deadline tied to the semiquincentennial celebrations.

The water was drained. The president directed that the bottom be painted a shade he described as “American flag blue.”

In May, he posted confidently on social media that the goal was completion at a higher standard before July 4 — and declared the project ahead of schedule.

Problems surfaced almost immediately after the initial work wrapped.

The Vandalism Cases

The peeling coating quickly became a legal matter.

Court documents show that the National Park Service reported an incident to the US Park Police dated June 9, in which a sharp knife or razor was used to cut the pool’s new liner.

On Thursday, former Olympic canoe racer David Hearn pleaded not guilty in D.C. Superior Court to deliberately damaging the pool.

Hearn’s account differs sharply from the charge. He says he reached into the pool to inspect the peeling sealant, and released a piece of it when a park worker instructed him to.

His attorneys — along with broader critics of the administration — have characterized the prosecution as an abuse of power, arguing that Hearn is being made a scapegoat for what was, in their telling, simply a poor repair job.

He is not alone. At least three other people have been charged with misdemeanors in the same court for allegedly removing paint fragments from the pool. All three pleaded not guilty at their initial appearances on Wednesday.

No Bidding, Same Contractors

One of the more contested decisions involves who gets to fix the problems.

Burgum confirmed the administration will not solicit new bids for the repair work. Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” he said they would simply use the same company, praising the quality of its work.

That statement has raised eyebrows, given the visible condition of the pool.

The contracts already awarded are substantial:

• Green Water Solutions, an Ohio-based firm also known as Greenwater Services, received $1.7 million to install a water-purification system
• Atlantic Industrial Coatings, based in Virginia, was awarded $14.7 million to repaint and waterproof the pool’s concrete floor

Together, that represents more than $16 million in public funds for a project that has now required a second draining before it ever functioned properly.

Congress Wants Answers

Democratic senators and House members have launched an investigation into the Reflecting Pool project, focusing in part on how much taxpayer money has been committed and what oversight, if any, accompanied the contracts.

The scrutiny arrives alongside broader questions about the administration’s construction agenda in Washington.

A Larger Building Spree

The Reflecting Pool is only one piece of a much bigger reshaping of the capital.

The most dramatic example: Trump demolished the East Wing of the White House to make room for a $400 million ballroom.

He has also proposed constructing a towering arch positioned between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery — a monument that would permanently alter one of the most symbolically loaded sightlines in the country.

Against that backdrop, a stubbornly malfunctioning reflecting pool becomes something more than a maintenance issue. It becomes a test case for whether these projects are being executed with the care their locations demand.

What Comes Next

The pool will be drained, cleaned, patched and refilled. Whether the coating holds this time is the open question.

Meanwhile, four people face charges over paint fragments, two contractors keep the work without competitive bidding, and congressional investigators are asking how a monument renovation announced with a hundred-year promise ended up needing emergency repairs within a month.

The water will come back. The confidence may take longer.