President Donald Trump blamed vandals for the peeling paint plaguing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool after a $14 million renovation, defending the construction team awarded a no-bid contract for the high-profile National Mall project.
Trump and White House aides say a 300-foot gash cut into the bottom of the pool caused the new coat of “American flag blue” paint to fail.
“They went in there with a knife. Probably a box cutter.”
The president told reporters Monday the damage means “we’ll probably have to let the water out” and “fix it” — despite already spending $14 million on the renovation.
The White House maintains the contractors are not at fault and that deliberate vandalism wrecked the paint job shortly after completion.
