WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool began filling with water on June 4 and was completely refilled by June 9.

President Donald Trump stated his administration was spending approximately $10 million to $12 million on the project. Public records detail the scope of current work as sandblasting the surface and applying a paint color referred to as American Flag blue. Government documents also indicate the work includes repairs to leaking crevices between concrete slabs at the bottom of the pool. A publicly available federal contract indicates the Trump administration spent about $14 million to repaint and seal the bottom of the pool.

Trump made comments about the pool during a Cabinet meeting on May 27. He claimed prior administrations failed despite spending hundreds of millions of dollars. Public records indicate approximately $35 million was spent to overhaul the pool during the Obama administration, with no major work performed during the Biden administration. Trump said, "The Biden administration and the Obama administration spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to get it to work, and they failed."

Extensive work to rebuild the pool started in 2010 and concluded in 2012, utilizing funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The original pool, constructed in the early 1920s with an asphalt and tile bottom on marsh-heavy soil, had sunk a foot into the ground prior to the 2010 reconstruction. The 2010 to 2012 project switched the pool's water source from the municipal system to the nearby Tidal Basin, which is fed by the Potomac River, and included the installation of an ozone water filtration system. No documentation indicates the water source for the pool has been changed under the Trump administration. Trump said, "The water from the Potomac was not suitable for this, to put it mildly. It was disgusting what happened." An unexpected amount of algae appeared when the reconstructed pool opened in 2012, requiring an adjustment to the ozone filtration system levels. A broken water line in 2019 also caused water quality issues, which required subsequent repairs.

No independent assessment of Donald Trump’s claims was available.