Posted on 06/20/2026 7:52:17 PM PDT by Red Badger
President Trump on Saturday said the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool will likely have to be drained to make the necessary repairs after vandals took a knife and put a 250 foot long gash into the pool and poured corrosive chemicals in the water.
Many people have been arrested for vandalizing the reflecting pool and peeling off the paint from the bottom of the pool.
Former Olympian David Hearn was arrested and charged with misdemeanor for destruction of property for vandalizing the Lincoln Reflecting Pool.
According to independent journalist Emily Miller, a man was arrested after jumping into the pool on Friday and cutting out a “huge piece” of the sealant.
Miller also filmed a man being detained by Park Police. “He grabbed the hose that female National Park Service workers were using to clear the algae,” Miller said.
That man turned out to be cyclist and Olympian David Hearn, 67.
Hearn is a three-time Olympic canoeist.
President Trump said he met with contractors and determined that the reflecting pool will likely need to be drained to make the necessary repairs.
Full statement from President Trump:
Many additional people have been arrested having to do with the disgraceful Vandalism of our beautiful Reflecting Pool.
It hasn’t looked or worked like this since 1922, when it was originally built, but even then, it leaked badly, and didn’t work. Ours worked perfectly, including the mirror like finish, perfectly reflecting the two Great Monuments, which it never had before!
What these terrible Vandals have done is a true affront to both Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and should be dealt with accordingly. We met with contractors today, will probably be forced to release and drain much of the water in order to do the necessary repairs, but will have them done as quickly as possible.
What they have damaged does not even include the earlier killing of a large amount of grass which was, by far, the least of it. They took some form of knife or blade, and put a 250 foot long gash into the beautiful facade of what took so much work, competence, and money to build and complete.
They also poured corrosive and destructive chemicals into the Pool. The Reflecting Pool was never so beautiful as it was just one week ago, even going back to 1922 when it opened. We are very proud of what we have done with this magnificent structure, and we will get it repaired, quickly, to an equal level of Beauty. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP
>an equal level of Beauty
This is what enrages them. Beauty, Truth, and Goodness are their enemy, or that of the Enemy, and since they are the folllowers of that Enemy they do his will.
Yep. I’m telling you God has a handle on azzholes in his reflecting pools. Morning Glory pool is my favorite. Be safe.
Former Olympian David Hearn was arrested and charged with misdemeanor for destruction of property for vandalizing the Lincoln Reflecting Pool.
Damn it!! Charge them with something SERIOUS, something that carries a 20 years at hard labor sentence. A MISDEMEANOR?? For crying out loud, we will never stop these bastards with kid gloves.
It's an affront to all Americans who love their country and want their Capital to shine for the nation's 250th birthday. These bastards are seriously mentally ill.
Reopen the mental hospitals and commit them!
“Restitution - they must work until it is paid off.”
Making license plates at Club Fed for 20 years might be enough to pay it off.
Put them IN the reflecting pool and slowly turn the juice up. Let then sit there going “Bzzzzttttt” for a long time.
What could possibly be so terrible about making a pool beautiful again for the public to enjoy? Too many Democrats are so full of hate that they made themselves mentally ill.
Liberals are violent lunatics.
-PJ
“DOJ must make a huge example of the punishment that awaits any copycats.”
The case will be tried in a DC court with a Trump hating leftist judge and a DC jury.
Filling the pond with fresh new water, no way could algae have grown so fast.
Gee. I was watching MS NOW two nights ago and they spent probably 10 minutes talking about how insane Trump was for alleging the pool was damaged by vandals. That he had failed in the repair and was blaming others because he was too insane to accept his failure. But they’re not insane, right?
Well, I’m not 100% sure about that. Even the pool experts were saying that the old stagnant dirty water in the lines under the ground and the very hot, very sunny days after they first refilled it could have triggered the bloom. But once the nutrients in the water were used up the bloom should have failed and they should have been able to clean it out.
So, you’re saying Trump is nuts because unconvicted criminals are damaging the reflecting pool? Can you clarify this for us?
“If everyone is out to get you, paranoia is just good thinking.” Dr. Johnny Fever.
I don’t like the guy, but I’m not going to run around destroying DC like a 5-year-old just because he’s still the President. An Olympian doing this crap? Sheesh!
Fair enough. Or Reply #6 is just as good, but with patriotic American citizens razzing them while they work.
I also don't understand why they put in a liner. In ground pools don't have liners, they typically are coated with epoxy, acrylic, or rubber based paints.
It wasn’t vandalism. It was shoddy work by a shoddy contractor with a shady past including 2 convictions for bribery and campaign finance violations, who was awarded a no-bid contract for a rush job along with at least one poor decision on how to fix it.
Many knowledgeable people said that painting the bottom with a waterproof polyurea/polyurethane coating and in a very dark color would do several things: the dark color would absorb more light, raising the water temperature that in turn, promotes algae growth, and that sealing the stone bottom would eliminate the pool’s natural filtration system.
Next there are pictures of workers from the Department of the Interior (not vandals) pouring gallons and gallons of hydrogen peroxide into the pool to kill the algae. The problem with that is that hydrogen peroxide is a solvent for paint/epoxy. I’ve also heard it said by some pool builders/pool maintenance people that not enough time was given for it to cure before refilling with water.
Finally, the guy who was arrested wasn’t vandalizing or damaging the reflecting pool, he simply knelt down and picked up a piece of the now delaminated/peeling coating floating on the surface. He was not the only one to do this but is being made an example of to deflect from this boondoggle F-up.
I predict charges will be dropped and if not, I hope he sues.
“It was shoddy work by a shoddy contractor”
Right. Because Trump is notorious for sh!t construction all over the world. 😜
The pool has become a symbol of Trump’s renewal of America. In the minds of these America-haters, it must be degraded at all costs.
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