At a June 4, 2026 Oval Office event announcing $700 million to support coal plants and mines, President Trump opened by showing reporters footage of the newly refilled Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, a start The Independent described as derailing the event. Later, calling it “a little breaking news,” he announced a new “promenade” from behind the Lincoln Memorial over two roadways to the Potomac River. “At the Lincoln Memorial, the front was supposed to be the back, the back was supposed to be the front,” he said, according to the C-SPAN transcript; the walkway “never got built because they built two roadways behind it.” He added: “They want to call it the Trump promenade, but I don't know if I want to do that. But it's going to be beautiful.” The Pantagraph noted he did not say who wanted it named after him, and the White House offered no further details.
He also praised the repainted pool, calling it “the reflective lake” and saying it “never really worked” and “was always leaking” since it was built in the 1920s. The Independent reported he described its new blue coating as “swimming pool on steroids” and that he was talking to reporters about the pool for the second time in 48 hours, as Cabinet members stood by. Trump did present the coal plan, and invited Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to speak about it.
The idea has some historical basis: The Independent noted the National Park Service describes the Watergate Steps on the Potomac side as a planned ceremonial entry to the capital, though the memorial itself was built to face east, toward the National Mall. The promenade pitch extends a pattern of personalized Trump-era projects on the Mall, alongside the Reflecting Pool overhaul and a planned 250-foot arch across the river (see Trump Gives a $6.9 Million No-Bid Contract to His 'Pool Guy' to Repaint the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool 'American Flag Blue'; Cost Then Soared to $13.1M and the Cultural Landscape Foundation Sued, The Trump Administration Is Paying $5 Million to Coat Four DC Horse Statues in Gold, Through a No-Bid Contract Rushed for July 4).
Correction (October 2, 2026): The title put “faces the wrong way” in quotation marks; that was a headline paraphrase, not Trump's words, and has been replaced with his actual words; the title also no longer says he “derailed” the event, since the coal plan was presented. The entry said the coal announcement “went largely undiscussed”; the C-SPAN transcript shows Trump presented the $700 million coal plan at the same event and invited three Cabinet officials to speak on it, so that claim has been removed. It also omitted that Trump said he did not know if he wanted the promenade named after him, and said he “repeatedly” called the pool a “reflective lake,” which the transcript does not show.