President Donald Trump launched a blistering attack on the New York Times Tuesday morning, following the newspaper's report on the skyrocketing costs of his Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovation project. The project, which originally carried a $1.8 million price tag, has now ballooned to an anticipated $13.1 million, according to federal records cited by the Times.
In a lengthy Truth Social post, Trump derided the Times as "one of the worst newspapers anywhere in the World" and claimed it is "losing subscribers on an hourly basis." He accused the paper of inaccurately covering his 2024 victory and attempting to justify what he called former Presidents Obama and Biden's "expensively botched attempt" at fixing the pool.
Trump ordered the project in April to coincide with the nation's 250th anniversary, detailing plans to repaint the reflecting pool "American flag blue," waterproof its bottom, and mend leaking joints. The Interior Department added $6.2 million to the no-bid contract on Friday, awarded to Atlantic Industrial Coatings, a Virginia firm.
An Interior spokesperson told The Hill that the increased cost reflects the need to expedite the timeline with "more people, more materials, more equipment and longer hours ahead of our 250th."
Trump defended the project as a cost-saving measure, claiming he saved "more than 390 Million Dollars" compared to a previous $400 million estimate for granite pavers. "Instead of taking 4 years to build, at a cost ... of 400 Million Dollars, we could construct a far superior Reflecting Pool for 5 or 6 Million Dollars, and could complete the project in 2 weeks," he wrote.
He pushed back against criticism that the work was "just a paint job," describing it as "deeply complicated work of smart and beautiful construction." Trump insisted the pool "won't leak, it will shine, and be the pride of Washington D.C. for decades to come."
However, the project faces a legal challenge. The Cultural Landscape Foundation and its founder, Charles Birnbaum, filed a lawsuit this week arguing the blue paint coating is "altering the historic character" of the reflecting pool without proper authority, alleging violations of the National Historic Preservation Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.
The lawsuit, which also references the administration's demolition of the White House East Wing, states: "This latest desecration of the reflecting pool is part of a pattern ... in which this Administration willfully disregards legal limits established by Congress."
The project is slated for completion by July 4, but the lawsuit seeks to halt the overhaul. This controversy adds to a broader pattern of Trump remaking Washington's landmarks in his image, as seen in the renaming of the Kennedy Center. Meanwhile, the president's focus remains on domestic priorities, though ongoing tensions with Iran continue to shape the political landscape.
