“I’m very proud of it,” US President Donald Trump gushed from the Oval Office. “I’m very good at building things and constructing things.”He would have been overlooking his freshly repainted Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. But the scaffolding for a 5000-seat arena and stage for an upcoming wrestling performance on the front lawn of the White House got in the way.“It’s really beautiful. It’s something for you to see, it’s incredible.”The pool has now been refilled after six weeks of repainting and rampant controversy.It’s what many consider to be sacred ground.It’s where Reverend Martin Luther King gave his history-changing “I Have a Dream” speech. It’s where the black singer Marian Anderson gave an impromptu concert in 1939 after the Daughters of the American Revolution banned her from appearing in Constitution Hall.It was the rallying point for 1960s anti-Vietnam War marches that advanced on the Pentagon.But the 47th President of the United States of America disparaged it as “filthy”.It was built to be a glittering symbol of the constitutional division between executive power (the White House) and the power of the people (Congress). A place for the public to ponder and participate in democracy.But it’s something President Trump wants to make his own.He promised he could revive the Lincoln Pool for a mere $US1.8 million.The Interior Department (responsible for administering federal public property) quickly revised that figure to $US13.1 million.“I’ve made this a much larger job than originally contemplated for purposes of Beauty, and a much longer life,” President Trump explained in a social media post. “Also, went to a higher quality sealer with more reflectivity.”The latest invoice count is $US14.2 million. And to the casual observer, it looks pretty much exactly the same as it did pre-costly renovation.But wait, there’s more.The rejuvenated pool was just the beginning. Now, President Trump, who turns 80 on June 14, wants to extend the memorial down to the Potomac River.“It’s a beautiful project, and it’s going to take the Lincoln Memorial right down to the Potomac,” President Trump declares. “We’re going to call it the promenade. They want to call it the ‘Trump Promenade’. But I don’t know if I want to do that. But it’s going to be beautiful.”Division by designPresident Trump says he agonised over the pool’s colour.He wanted it to be brighter. Like a backyard swimming pool.“What about turquoise, like in the Bahamas?” President Trump recalled asking the no-bid contractor he appointed to the job.“I wanted to go light, but they said, ‘Sir, light doesn’t reflect. And light shows leaves and garbage. We can give you turquoise, but why don’t you try — like, we have a colour. It’s called American-flag blue.”Washington DC traditionalists sank into a panic the moment they saw workers in high-vis yellow protective suits spray-painting the pool’s stone tiles bright blue.The historic monument was built the way it was for a reason.It was supposed to reflect the reality of America’s political institutions. And the sunny – or stormy – conditions they experience.Its design was chosen in 1911 from concepts submitted by two competing architects, John Pope and Henry Bacon.Pope wanted a bold pyramidal structure overlooking a sacred lake. Bacon went for something more restrained, with classical columns and a carefully aligned pool blending with the surrounding landscape.Bacon won.His pool wasn’t intended to be a feature in itself. Instead, it emphasised the surrounding stone, sky and trees. It was deliberately built from dark, neutral materials to enhance reflection without colour distortion.But the Washington swamp soon began to take its toll.The symbolic pool’s structure sank into the soft clay. Leaks were prolific. And slime clung relentlessly to its crumbling stone walls.The Biden and Obama administrations spent tens of millions to stabilise and rebuild the structure.Blue lagoon“The water is ON, the Reflecting Pool is reflecting, and D.C. is looking better than ever,” a White House social media account posted before the pool had finished filling with water.The “American Flag Blue” turned out to be suitably grey.And no sparkling Bahamas tones colour the view.But trouble is afoot.“So the algae could still be an issue,” Atlantic Industrial Coatings representative Alex Starkey told US media. “That’s up to the Park Service.”It was spotted on the pool’s surface hours after the reopening last night.But Interior Department spokeswoman Kate Martin was dismissive.“What you are seeing is residual algae from the supply lines, which have been sitting dormant for eight weeks while construction has been taking place,” she said in a statement.“President Donald J. Trump is an expert builder who has fixed the Reflecting Pool for good, unlike the failed and extremely costly attempt by Obama and Biden.”Past attempts to fix the pool have been a target of the President’s ire.Even though that reconstruction work involved considerably more than a coat of sealant and paint.“It’s never worked. A great concept that never worked because it always leaked,” blustered President Trump. “They used stone originally, and the stone leaks because it’s got a lot of crevices, and we have a very special material that we use, and we’ll do this for a tiny fraction.”Making America Great AgainThe former real estate developer and game show host is pressing relentlessly ahead with his rejuvenation of the spaces he must gaze upon while at work. Though that may no longer be a problem, as he likes the look of the star-spangled wrestling arena dominating the White House lawn. “Maybe we’ll never ever take it down,” he quipped last week.He has already demolished (without approval) the White House’s East Wing to build a new $US400 million White House ballroom (and underground military bunker).He’s pushing ahead with a $US100 million Triumphal Trump Arch (tall enough at 76m to require flashing red lights to warn aircraft).He wants a National Garden of American Heroes. If he gets to choose who the heroes are.$US5.1 million in fresh gold leaf is being applied to the Arts of War and Arts of Peace statues near the Lincoln Memorial. And President Trump wants the slate-and-granite Eisenhower Executive Building painted white.“We’re auramaxxing Washington, D.C. ahead of America’s 250th birthday,” the Department of the Interior posted to social media.What of his Trump Promenade plans?No cost estimates have been revealed. No planning approval submissions have been made. Watch this space.Jamie Seidel is a freelance writerRead related topics:Donald Trump