By
Nia Prater,
Intelligencer staff writer, who covers New York politics
A visitor takes a photo go the recently drained Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool with the Washington Monument in the background on July 21, 2026 in Washington, DC.
The federal government’s highly-publicized renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool fell short of Donald Trump’s lofty visions as algae-plagued water and the pool’s peeling coating prompted the president to blame the unsightly damage on alleged vandals who he vowed to prosecute.
