Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool will get a blue coating as Trump tackles renovation challenge | EUROtoday

President Donald Trump is having the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool coated in a swimming pool floor hued in “American flag blue,” overlaying up a decades-old granite floor that he mentioned was “leaking like a sieve” and would take years to exchange.

The president introduced the renovation at an Oval Office occasion Thursday, saying the coating had already begun. He was impressed to sort out the challenge after a buddy visited from Germany and lamented that the water was filthy and regarded disgusting, Trump mentioned.

“And I went over there with Secret Service in tow, and I said, isn’t that a shame? That’s terrible,” Trump mentioned, displaying reporters a photograph of the positioning because it undergoes work.

The challenge is another makeover refashioning the nation’s capital to Trump’s liking, following others such because the demolition of the White House’s East Wing to make room for a brand new ballroom.

Lined with stately elm bushes between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, the reflecting pool is likely one of the most iconic websites within the capital. It’s the place Martin Luther King Jr. gave his well-known “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963.

In Trump’s telling, the reflection pool challenge is a case examine in enterprise acumen. The president mentioned he scrapped plans to have the granite changed, which he mentioned was estimated to value $301 million and would take not less than three years.

Instead, Trump mentioned he known as a couple of pool contractors he is aware of from previous actual property tasks — “I have a guy who’s unbelievable at doing swimming pools up the road,” Trump mentioned.

The president went with a plan to wash the granite and lay down a brand new “industrial grade pool” floor for $1.5 million, he mentioned. All instructed, it might take a couple of weeks. Trump famous it might be prepared properly earlier than July 4, when the nation celebrates the 250th anniversary of its independence.

Trump introduced up the challenge unprompted and spoke about it for a number of minutes at a White House occasion on efforts to scale back drug costs. He mentioned he initially wished a turquoise-colored floor “like in the Bahamas” however was offered when a contractor recommended “American flag blue.”

“You’re going to end up with a beautiful, beautiful reflecting pool,” Trump mentioned, “the way it’s supposed to be, much better than it ever was.”