Drained Reflecting Pool reveals Trump's 'American flag blue' liner is now closer to gray

WASHINGTON (AP) — The newly drained Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool's bottom surface has noticeably faded since it was lined with a protective coating in a color President Donald Trump called “American flag blue” this spring.

An Associated Press reporter and photographer viewed the fenced-off Reflecting Pool on Wednesday from the top of the Washington Monument. The new liner appears grayer than when the pool was repainted and refilled with water in early June. Debris that had been visible earlier this week after the pool was drained is now largely gone, after work crews removed it.

Trump’s problem-plagued effort to revamp the landmark has stretched well past his initial goal of having the Reflecting Pool ready by July 4 for the nation’s 250th birthday.

The president at first suggested his renovations would cost $1.5 million, but the bill ballooned to more than $16 million by June.

Trump had said the repairs would last a century, but within days of the project's initial completion last month, the water was beset by an algae bloom and pieces of the new coating appeared to be peeling off the bottom.

Ohio-based Green Water Solutions, also known as Greenwater Services, was given a $1.7 million contract to install a water-purification system in the Reflecting Pool, while Virginia-based Atlantic Industrial Coatings was awarded $14.7 million to repaint and waterproof the pool’s concrete floor.

Trump has repeatedly blamed vandals for the peeling paint, though critics allege it’s from shoddy repair work.

Trump has said, without citing evidence, that vandals made a “350-foot gash” in the liner and caused other problems. No large slash marks were immediately visible Wednesday from the Washington Monument view. It was not possible to do a more up-close inspection of the entire pool due to a dark fence surrounding the perimeter.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, whose agency oversees the National Park Service, said that after the water is drained and debris is cleaned from Independence Day fireworks, the plan for the pool is straightforward: “Repair the vandalism that was done. Fill it back up again." He was speaking with conservative podcaster Katie Miller.

Court documents show that the National Park Service reported to the U.S. Park Police a June 9 incident in which a sharp knife or razor was said to have cut the pool’s new liner.

Former Olympic canoe racer David Hearn pleaded not guilty last week in D.C. Superior Court to deliberately damaging the Reflecting Pool. Hearn has said he reached inside the pool to examine the peeled sealant and let go of a chunk when he was told to by a park worker.

His attorneys and other Trump administration critics have derided the case as an abuse of prosecutorial power and maintain he is being scapegoated for the poor job done fixing up the Reflecting Pool.

At least three other people have been charged in the same court with misdemeanors for allegedly removing pieces of paint from the pool, court records show. All three pleaded not guilty during initial court appearances.

The work on the Reflecting Pool is just one of a number of projects Trump has spearheaded across the nation’s capital. Most prominently, he demolished the White House’s East Wing to build a $400 million ballroom and plans to build a towering arch. between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.

National Park Service workers investigate the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, Wednesday, July 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

The Reflecting Pool, Washington Monument and U.S. Capitol are seen, Wednesday, July 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

The Reflecting Pool is seen from the Washington Monument, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

The Reflecting Pool is seen from the Washington Monument, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

The Lincoln Memorial and the Reflecting Pool are seen from the Washington Monument, Wednesday, July 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

NEW YORK (AP) — Earlier in the month, President Donald Trump warned voters that democratic socialists — extreme, crazed, lunatics, he called them — were threatening to transform America into “a communist country.”

This week, a smiling Trump patted on the shoulder one of the nation's best known democratic socialists, shook his hand, and said he was “off to a start” to being a great mayor of the country's largest city.

Trump's cozy relationship with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, which began last year, has confounded people across the political spectrum. But with the midterms approaching, Republicans are increasingly frustrated by the unexpected bromance, which threatens the party's message about Democratic radicalism.

“You’re trying to say, ‘Here’s how extreme they are,' and the president’s saying, ’I love this guy,” said veteran Republican strategist Doug Heye. “It doesn’t help.”

It's hard to overstate the extent to which Republicans are focused on the rise of democratic socialism in the midterm season. At a moment when the party is saddled with Trump's weak approval ratings on virtually every major issue — the economy and the war in Iran chief among them — Republicans from Georgia and Texas to New York and Michigan are working to scare voters away from Democratic candidates by warning that the party is controlled by far-left extremists.

At Trump's unusual midterm convention in Texas earlier in the month, Mamdani's name was evoked over and over again.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz called the New York Mayor “Comrade Mamdani.” Rep. Tom Emmer, the No. 3 House Republican, called him "Mamdani the commie.”

Trump sent a similar message although he didn't mention Mamdani.

“They call themselves Democrat socialists, but actually they’re communists,” he said in his keynote address. “They’re crazy.”

In all, the words socialist or socialism were referenced dozens of times during the convention.

Trump did not mention those words while standing alongside Mamdani in New York on Monday, however. The president was in town for the United Nations General Assembly and made time to swing by Gracie Mansion.

Instead, the president highlighted efforts underway to work together, noting that he's worked with numerous mayors over the years — “some great ones and some not so great ones.”

“Hopefully you’re going to be a great one,” Trump said while looking at Mamdani. “I’ll be able to say you’re going to be a great one. And you’re off to a start.”

Trump grew up in Queens, which Mamdani represented in the New York Assembly before running for mayor and winning a startling upset. He has since expanded his political power in the city, helping to push three candidates to victory in Democratic congressional primaries earlier this year.

It's possible that Trump's tone on Mamdani will shift again. After they had two surprisingly convivial meeting in the Oval Office, Trump started criticizing the mayor again.

“Sadly, Mayor Mamdani is DESTROYING New York! It has no chance!,” Trump wrote on social media in April in apparent response to a plan to create a new tax on luxury second homes in the city. “The United States of America should not contribute to its failure. It will only get WORSE. The TAX, TAX, TAX Policies are SO WRONG.”

Republicans in New York were quick to downplay the latest example of Trump's friendliness with Mamdani.

David Laska, a spokesperson for the New York Republican Party, said “President Trump is the greatest dealmaker in history, and he has proven repeatedly that he can deal from a position of strength with America’s enemies, be they foreign dictators or the mayor of New York City.”

Mamdani faced his own questions about why he was playing nice with a president that he's previously described as a fascist.

“The president and I have both been very frank about the many disagreements that we have,” he said Monday. "I will continue to have conversations with the president, and frankly, anyone who can deliver relief to the people of this city."

President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speak to reporters at Gracie Mansion, Monday, Sept. 21, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speak to reporters at Gracie Mansion, Monday, Sept. 21, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani stands by as President Donald Trump speaks during a joint news conference at Gracie Mansion, Monday, Sept. 21, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)