Trump says Reflecting Pool work is done and it's set to be filled with water

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is done, and it's set to be filled with water any day now, his administration says.

Trump noted the work to paint the shallow basin a deep shade, which he calls “American flag blue,” was completed on Wednesday. The administration said in a court filing it's set to be filled with water no later than Sunday.

As of early Thursday, there were still vehicles in the basin and no sign of water in it.

Trump has put the cost of the work on the pool at $1.5 million to $2 million, but records show at least $14.8 million worth of contracts has been awarded for the project. The president announced the work in April during an unrelated Oval Office appearance, saying he was inspired by complaints from a friend visiting from Germany who called the pool dark and disgusting.

The project is another way for Trump to leave his mark on the city, following the demolition of the White House East Wing to build a large ballroom and plans to build an arch between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.

The reflecting pool, which is more than 2,000 feet (610 meters) long, was originally built in the 1920s. It sits between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument and is one of the most iconic sites in Washington. Martin Luther King, Jr. famously gave his “I Have a Dream” speech there in 1963.

The basin held about 6.5 million gallons of water — roughly as much as 10 Olympic-size swimming pools — before a 2012 renovation, according to the National Park Service. Under that earlier renovation, the pool was reengineered with a circulation and filtration system so that instead of using the city’s drinking water, it draws river water from the nearby Tidal Basin. Washington and its surrounding states are facing drought conditions.

Critics have said Trump, a Republican, is spending too much time and attention on his pet projects and not enough on issues that voters care about, like the cost of living, in the run-up to the November elections. Others have said he wants the reflecting pool to look more like a swimming pool.

Last month, a Washington-based nonprofit called the Cultural Landscape Foundation filed a suit asking a judge to force the Trump administration to stop work on the “dark grey” Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, saying the new paint color suggested a “theme park.”

An order in the case hasn't come yet, and on Wednesday the Trump administration notified the court the work was complete, with the basin set to be filled by Sunday.

A message seeking information from the Interior Department, which oversees the Park Service, wasn't immediately answered.

Work continues on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which is covered in a blue protective coating, ahead of the United States 250th anniversary, Thursday, June 4, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Work continues on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which is covered in a blue protective coating, ahead of the United States 250th anniversary, Thursday, June 4, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Work continues on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which is covered in a blue coating, ahead of the United States 250th anniversary, Thursday, June 4, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Work continues on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which is covered in a blue protective coating, ahead of the United States 250th anniversary, Thursday, June 4, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, center, poses for a photo with workers while touring the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool after it was coated in a blue swimming pool surface ahead of the United States' 250th anniversary, Wednesday, June 3, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

German airline Lufthansa said several employees were injured on Thursday after the nose gear of a Boeing jet collapsed while the aircraft was parked at a gate at Frankfurt airport.

Only crew members and ground staff were on board the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner when the front tip of the plane crashed to the ground ahead of passenger boarding for a scheduled flight to Los Angeles. The flight was later canceled.

“Several employees were injured and are currently receiving medical attention,” Lufthansa said in a statement, adding that it and relevant authorities were investigating.

The plane is about a year old, according to flight-tracking website Flightradar24.

Boeing said it is “aware of the incident” and "supporting our customer.”

Video footage from the scene appeared to show the front wheels of the wide-body aircraft sliding forward and the plane's nose falling several meters (yards) as a ground crew member standing nearby quickly backed away. The doors to the nose gear bay broke off upon impact.

Jeff Guzzetti, a former U.S. federal aviation crash investigator, said it is “very unusual” for a nose landing gear to collapse while an aircraft is at a standstill. He cautioned it is too early to speculate on the cause of the incident, but he said potential factors could include prior damage to the landing gear, a mechanical failure or issues related to maintenance work.

Investigators, he said, will be looking closely at the plane’s maintenance history and system records, and may also review flight data to understand how the aircraft’s landing gear had been operating in previous landings.

“They’re going to look at every square inch of that nose landing gear strut and the mechanisms that operate it,” Guzzetti said.

A 2021 incident at London’s Heathrow Airport also involved the nose landing gear of a Boeing 787. According to a report by the UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch, a 787-8 was undergoing maintenance at a gate when its nose landing gear retracted during testing, causing the aircraft’s nose to drop onto the pavement. Investigators found that a locking pin intended to prevent retraction had been inserted into the wrong position, allowing the gear to fold despite safeguards designed to keep it extended.

The 787 Dreamliner, a wide-body twin-aisle aircraft used primarily on long-haul international routes, first entered service in 2011. The version involved in Thursday’s incident can carry up to 296 passengers, depending on configuration.

In recent years, the 787 program had been plagued by production flaws and quality-control issues, with shipments of the large plane temporarily halted on multiple occasions.

Issues with the 787 started in 2020 when small gaps were found between panels of the fuselage that are made of carbon composite material. That prompted inspections that turned up problems with a pressurization bulkhead at the front of the plane.

In May 2021, Boeing halted 787 deliveries while U.S. federal regulators looked over documentation of work that was done on new planes.

In June 2023, Boeing said 787 deliveries were delayed again while it inspected fittings on part of the aircraft’s tail — the horizontal stabilizer — after identifying a “nonconforming condition.” The company said at the time that the issue would affect near-term deliveries but was not considered a safety risk for aircraft already in service.

Yamat, AP's airlines and travel writer, reported from Las Vegas.

A Lufthansa 'Dreamliner' aircraft lies on its nose in front of a terminal at the Frankfurt Airport in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, June 4, 2026, after the nose landing gear collapsed. (Mike Seeboth/dpa via AP)

A Lufthansa "Dreamliner " aircraft lies on its nose in front of a terminal at Frankfurt Airport after the nose landing gear collapsed on Thursday, June 4, 2026 in Frankfurt, Germany, (Mike Seeboth/dpa via AP)