On May 8, 2026, the New York Times and Independent reported that Trump used a government 'urgent situation' contracting exemption — typically reserved for preventing 'serious injury, financial or other, to the government' — to award a $6.9 million no-bid contract to Atlantic Industrial Coatings, a Virginia firm Trump described as his 'pool guy.' The contract was to repaint the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool 'American Flag Blue.' Trump on the project: 'I have a guy who's unbelievable at doing swimming pools up the road.' White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers: 'This project is now being completed at “Trump Speed” to ensure the iconic landmark is totally restored ahead of the 250th celebrations.'
By May 11, the cost had ballooned to $13.1 million — the Interior Department added $6.2 million on Friday, citing the need to 'expedite the timeline' with additional personnel, materials, equipment, and extended hours. The contractor's original cost promise had been $1.8 million. The cost rose by more than 7x from the original estimate to the final figure.
On May 12, the Cultural Landscape Foundation filed suit in U.S. District Court in Washington seeking to halt the painting project. The foundation argued the Trump administration violated a federal law requiring advance review of projects altering historic landmarks. Foundation statement: 'every day that the resurfacing continues, the historic character of the Reflecting Pool is being further and fundamentally altered.' The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, completed in 1923, has never before been painted; the design uses the pool's natural reflective surface as the architectural feature. Painting the bottom of the pool 'American Flag Blue' is a permanent alteration of one of the most-photographed federal landmarks in the country.
The pool work sits inside the broader pattern of self-dealing federal-construction contracting in the second term: the East Wing demolition that produced 30,000 cubic yards of toxic-metals debris dumped at East Potomac public golf course; the $400 million White House ballroom now being financed via a $1 billion Secret Service 'security' line item in the GOP $72 billion ICE/CBP/DHS reconciliation bill; and the Florida Palm Beach International Airport renaming bill ($5.5 million). The pool no-bid contract is the smallest of the four in dollar terms but is the most concrete example of a single Trump statement ('my pool guy') translating directly into a federal contract.
When ABC News correspondent Rachel Scott asked Trump on May 8 at the Lincoln Memorial why he was focusing on capital beautification projects amid the Iran war and rising gas prices, Trump responded: 'Such a stupid question that you asked.' He called Scott 'one of the worst reporters' and 'a horror show.' The administration cited the project's removal of '11 or 12 truckloads of garbage' from the water as the public-interest justification. The garbage-removal claim has not been independently verified.