A construction trailer and other work vehicles occupy the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool as work continues to correct the botched repair project in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 18, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Sealant is breaking loose from the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool again, this time during the repair work that President Donald Trump promised would fix the monument.
Freelance photographer Joe Flood posted video of the loose sealant on X on Wednesday. Repair crews were at work on the liner on Aug. 18, according to the Washington Post. The basin has been drained for the work.
"Sealant is coming up in chunks at the Reflecting Pool," Flood wrote.
The pool has been drained and patched repeatedly since June, according to PBS News. The blue coating started peeling within days of the June refill, CNN reported. Algae turned the water green at the same time.
Prosecutors blamed the rush to finish before July Fourth in a court filing. "Hasty and botched work" resulted from that rush, the filing said.
A National Park Service engineer had warned the administration on June 11, NBC News reported. "[T]op layer of liner has peeled," the engineer wrote in an email.
Prosecutors dropped the case against former Olympic canoeist David Hearn for alleged vandalism, then moved to dismiss charges against three other people, NPR reported.
President Donald Trump rejected the botched-work finding on Aug. 1 and turned on U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, who reached it, according to NBC.
"There may have been some contractor difficulty, but the major damage was caused by VANDALS!" the president wrote on Truth Social.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum handed the repair back to the same firm that did the original work, he told CNN. That contractor won the job without competing bids.
"We'll use the same company, because they did a fantastic job," Burgum insisted.