Overview
- Workers are laying an “American flag blue” industrial pool coating on the Reflecting Pool after Thursday’s Oval Office reveal, with the White House and Interior sharing photos of the drained basin.
- Trump says the cleanup and resurfacing will finish in a few weeks for about $1.5–$2 million, positioned against a roughly $300 million, multi-year granite replacement he said he rejected.
- Interior Secretary Doug Burgum posted images Friday confirming work in progress, while records show the site last underwent a major National Park Service renovation in 2012 for about $34 million.
- Preservation-minded critics warn a bright blue basin could weaken the mirror effect and change the site’s historic character, and independent checks of durability and cost claims are not yet public.
- The project is part of Trump’s wider D.C. makeover before the America 250 celebrations, alongside a planned White House ballroom and a proposed triumphal arch that have prompted process and oversight questions.