Trump claims 'vandals' slashed Reflecting Pool he previously described as knife-proof

Donald Trump is blaming vandals for the ongoing deterioration of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, the same pool he told the public weeks ago had a surface so strong that even a knife couldn't cut through it.

Speaking back on 4 May, Trump praised the durability of the newly renovated pool, declaring the surface "very, very strong" and predicting it would last at least 50 years without a leak.

On Tuesday, he announced the pool would need to be drained again, this time due to what he described as a deliberate and violent slash running the length of the structure.

The size of the alleged cut has shifted somewhat depending on when Trump is speaking.

He has variously described it as 250 feet, 290,300 feet, and 350 feet in length.

U.S. National Park Service employee uses a vacuum pump to clean algae off the bottom of the newly repainted Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on the National Mall on June 16, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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The pool has been at the centre of controversy since Trump ordered it drained and spray-painted with what he called an "American flag-blue" coating, at a cost of $14.7 million to taxpayers.

The project was awarded via a no-bid contract to Atlantic Industrial Coatings, a company with links to Trump donors.

Shortly after completion, the water turned green with algae, large sections of paint began visibly peeling away, and the administration poured hydrogen peroxide into the pool in an attempt to address the discolouration.

When pressed by CBS News senior White House correspondent Ed O'Keefe on whether he had any actual evidence, photos, video, anything, that vandals had physically cut a 350-foot slit into the pool, Trump's response was characteristically assured.

"When you have a 350-foot slit, from one end to the other, you think that's proof? You think that's proof?"

O'Keefe pointed out that reporters had visited the site and found no evidence of a slit.

Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool

Trump responded that proof would be forthcoming, in court, and directed journalists to contact the Parks Department or Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.

He also suggested, without evidence, that someone may have deliberately poured fertiliser into the water to generate the algae.

Five people have been arrested in connection with alleged vandalism at the pool, with five further individuals issued federal citations by US Park Police. However, neither the contracting company nor the US Park Service has stated that any cut or slash is responsible for the peeling.

Atlantic Industrial Coatings, for their part, acknowledged that "some areas require repairs" but insisted these represent a small portion of the overall project and do not indicate a failure of the liner, adding that repairs will be carried out under warranty once the pool is drained.

In a statement to UNILAD, they said: "Atlantic Industrial Coatings in conjunction with the US Park Service has identified some areas in the Reflecting Pool that require repairs.

"These areas are a very small part of the massive 7 acre project, and do not indicate a failure of the liner.

"These repairs can not be made until the pool is drained. As soon as its feasible for the Park, the pool will be drained and AIC will be back to make those needed repairs as part of the warranty."

The US Park Service and the White House has been approached for comment.