For the first time, President Donald Trump has acknowledged there was a construction error on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which is seeing another round of costly renovations.The initial construction cost more than $16 million, but the iconic Washington attraction had to be drained again after the Fourth of July because the American-flag-blue liner that Trump ordered began peeling.Trump admits reflecting pool construction errorTrump says contractors rushed the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, causing an error; cameras to be added.He blamed "vandals" on the problems with the project, but after several people were accused of damaging the pool, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia dropped all the charges.Trump lashed out at U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, saying she needs to "re-visit her hastily made decision."Now, Trump has redirected some of the blame toward contractors for the first time.Did Trump admit there was a construction error on the Reflecting Pool?In a post on Truth Social on Sunday night, Aug. 9, the president said the reflecting pool "will be open shortly" after the new renovations."As with many jobs, there was also some contractor error done by rushing the job for a July 4th opening, but it was a very small area of this massive Pool, and was relatively inconsequential," he wrote.Despite no video evidence pointing toward vandalism, Trump stopped short of placing all of the blame on contractors.He claimed former Olympian David Hearn was seen by a National Park Service worker "violently" ripping at the pool's coating. But a separate Park Service employee said the pool was already damaged before Hearn touched it.Prosecutors determined the reflecting pool's damage "was the result of flawed installation by the contractor ... and the rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration in the weeks surrounding Independence Day 2026," Pirro's office wrote July 31 in a court filing obtained by USA TODAY.Pirro's office claimed the Department of the Interior withheld information about the damage to the pool. When U.S. attorney's officials visited the site July 17, they found "extensive damage throughout" and requested documents about the pool's lining and installation.Those documents indicated "a rushed and flawed installation process, with repeated failures of the lining during the installation process, and extensive peeling of the lining throughout the Reflecting Pool," the U.S. Attorney's Office wrote.When the pool renovations are complete, more security cameras will be added in the area, the president said.