President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that vandals were responsible for damage to the Reflecting Pool after its recent renovation. He said he personally saw the damage and described how knives or box cutters had been used to tear apart the pool’s blue liner. Trump told reporters in June that he had seen what he described as a 350-foot cut in the coating.
The Justice Department initially charged several individuals with vandalizing the pool in early July but later moved to dismiss those cases, according to The Guardian. The White House directed questions about the contractor’s report to the Interior Department. Prosecutors said documents later provided by the Interior Department showed that the peeling liner resulted from a flawed installation and the rush to finish the project around the July 4 celebrations.
Atlantic Industrial Coatings, the company that carried out the renovation, admitted in a report that its work had not met expectations, according to a report from The Independent. The company said that the design called for two chemicals to be applied in separate layers, but those products were incompatible. It also reported that one chemical reached a temperature higher than what the layer underneath could handle, causing blistering and peeling. Workers also failed to spray enough primer in some places because of what the contractor called human oversight.
The renovation was completed under a no-bid contract worth about $14.7 million to repaint and waterproof the pool’s concrete floor in spring. Trump posted on Truth Social that the contractor had rushed the job to meet the 4 July opening date. He claimed the damage was limited to a small area and not significant.
The contractor told the government about its own errors in an Aug. 14 report and provided more details on Sept. 2. Atlantic has said it will repair the pool under warranty.
The Reflecting Pool remains drained while repairs continue, with fencing around the site. The pool has faced multiple issues since its reopening including algae blooms and paint peeling away. Trump also referenced damage to the grass near the World War II Monument, which he said was caused by vandals. The contractor has said vandals may have damaged caulking around the edge of the pool but did not connect those cuts to the widespread peeling of the blue coating on the pool floor.
A White House spokesperson defended the project, saying Trump had promised to make Washington safe and beautiful and was delivering on that promise. An Interior Department spokesperson continued to blame vandals for damage while saying the contractor was obligated to fix the pool. The department did not directly address the contractor's findings that problems with the design and installation caused the liner to peel.
The situation has drawn criticism as the project has been described as a mismanaged effort since Trump announced the repairs. The newly released contractor documents add evidence that construction problems played a major role in the failure. The pool remained drained as of Sept. 11 and officials had not announced when it would be refilled.