The Noose Is Tightening

But not where Trump wants it tightened. Gee, the evidence is showing that it was not vandals.

Crews at Reflecting Pool appear to gather evidence at failure points identified in Post report

Photos show at least a dozen locations being scrutinized, including three where The Post documented peeling.

The Washington Post

By Meg Kelly, Jarrett Ley and Maura Judkis

July 23, 2026

Photos taken at the Lincoln Memorial’s drained Reflecting Pool last week appear to show government employees gathering evidence in at least a dozen places, including three that were identified in a Washington Post analysis as locations where newly applied coating had peeled.

Administration officials have repeatedly claimed vandals are to blame for the damage that appeared just two weeks after the $14 million renovation was completed in early June. President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post last week that “the slashes were 300 yards long.” Other officials have offered varying descriptions, raising questions about the cause and extent of the damage.

The analysis published by The Post last week found that the pool’s lining had peeled away in at least seven spots along seams that were created when the material was applied in large rectangular sections. Experts said the pattern likely indicated problems in how the material was installed, but they stopped short of diagnosing a definitive application error.

That wasn't the reason I wrote this this afternoon, but rather to ask one question.

This started as a 'no-bid' contract promised to cost around $1.5 million, with the administration bypassing competitive bidding by invoking 'unusual and compelling urgency' for the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations. But the price tag quickly mushroomed to over $16 million! Also, you might remember that the jobs were handed straight to Trump's 'pool guys'. Now that it's looking like poor workmanship, Trump starts screaming 'Vandals!

So now it is looking like poor workmanship by Trump's "pool guy," so is he going to pay for the repairs or are they still going to scream "Vandals"? WRAL reported that;

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, whose agency oversees the National Park Service, said that after the water is drained and debris is cleaned from Independence Day fireworks, the plan for the pool is straightforward: “Repair the vandalism that was done. Fill it back up again." He was speaking with conservative podcaster Katie Miller.

They have their scapegoat, former Olympic canoe racer David Hearn, and it will all be blamed on vandals to get the contractors off the hook.