In the president\u2019s relentless pursuit to overhaul the Washington, D.C. landmark, among others, the Trump administration was willing to \u201cskirt laws, expend millions of dollars, ignore facts and punish truth tellers\u201d<\/a> to get the job done, according to The New York Times, which reports excruciating new details about the botched renovation project.<\/p>\n Shortly after Trump declared the project complete in early June, the \u201cAmerican flag blue\u201d lining of the pool began to peel, with pieces floating to the surface of the water, which had also turned green due to a years-long algae problem that returned. Trump blamed \u201cvandals\u201d for the damage, which Washington\u2019s top federal prosecutor Jeanine Pirro concluded last week was the \u201cresult of a flawed installation by the contractor\u201d in a stunning reversal.<\/a><\/p>\n The project began its ill-fated course<\/a> when the president tapped David Schutzenhofer, the manager of the Trump Organization\u2019s Bedminster golf club in New Jersey, who \u201cplayed an off-the-books role in government decisions\u201d with \u201cno formal training in engineering or architecture,\u201d according to the newspaper.<\/p>\n While Trump claimed on April 23 that he had called up \u201cthree of these people that have worked for me in the past doing swimming pools,\u201d Schutzenhofer was the one who sourced the companies that were ultimately awarded the no-bid government contracts to carry out the work, the Times reports. <\/p>\n The White House did not answer questions about Schutzenhofer\u2019s role in the project when reached for comment. \u201cFor years, the Reflecting Pool sat neglected, plagued with algae and leaking millions of gallons of water. Fixing it was common sense,\u201d spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said. \u201cIt\u2019s another example of President Trump restoring our nation\u2019s capital for the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n After being tapped by Trump around Thanksgiving last year to \u201clead\u201d efforts in finding solutions on how to fix the Reflecting Pool\u2019s long-running problems, Schutzenhofer went to the Las Vegas World Concrete trade show in January 2026.<\/p>\n There, he met Rodney Jarboe, the president of a Missouri-based company, Creative Polymers, that had previously worked on the Gateway Arch in St Louis, a federal monument.<\/p>\n Jarboe told the Times that Schutzenhofer \u201cmade clear that the work would be rushed\u201d and Trump wanted it complete for the Fourth of July celebrations. \u201cIt was a very tight deadline to make a decision,\u201d Jarboe said.<\/p>\n Schutzenhofer was reportedly the one who settled on the idea of coating the pool\u2019s concrete slabs with a polyurea liner, a type of waterproof coating, and partnered with another firm, Rhino Linings, which was the company touting the \u201cAmerican flag blue\u201d shade of lining that \u201cdelighted\u201d the president.<\/p>\n Jarboe\u2019s firm reportedly partnered with Rhino Linings due to a shortage of materials thanks to Trump\u2019s tariffs, he told the Times. \u201cTariffs were reducing the amount of materials that could come into the U.S. to make this stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n Rhino also enlisted the help of Atlantic Industrial Coatings to apply the coating, and the Interior Department approved the no-bid contract. <\/p>\n To address the pool\u2019s algae issue, which had since returned, Schutzensofer reached out to an Ohio-based company called Greenwater Services, reportedly owned by Trump\u2019s donor\u2019s investment firm. The firm was approved to supply the nanobubbler equipment to kill the algae. <\/p>\n The Interior Department issued another no-bid contract to Greenwater, \u201cbypass[ing] consultations with preservationists and other experts, even though a career employee said the project was significant enough to require it,\u201d the Times noted.<\/p>\n Atlantic\u2019s request to be paid a 20 percent profit margin was also granted by the Interior Department, according to the newspaper, with the department citing the looming July 4 deadline \u201cas a reason to block any scrutiny\u201d over the no-bid contracts. <\/p>\n Trump released a video statement from the Oval Office on April 23,<\/a> where he told the American people of the plans. <\/p>\n \u201cWhat we’re going to do is I’m going to call all three of these people that have worked for me in the past doing swimming pools,\u201d Trump said, claiming he had found the contractors himself. \u201cThat’s all they can do is a swimming pool.” And I said, \u2018Give me a good price. We can do it for maybe a million and a half to $2 million as opposed $300 million.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2279669701.jpg\")
A damning report has exposed how President Donald Trump\u2019s rush to fix the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was doomed from the start, with the complicated $14 million renovation project overseen by the manager of one of the president\u2019s golf clubs (Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"In](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786191394_530_2275499454...jpeg\")
In the president\u2019s relentless pursuit to overhaul the Washington, DC landmark, among others, the Trump administration was willing to \u2018skirt laws, expend millions of dollars, ignore facts and punish truth tellers\u2019 to get the job done, according to The New York Times (AFP\/Getty)<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2281919312.jpg\")
The president tapped David Schutzenhofer, the manager of the Trump Organization\u2019s Bedminster golf club in New Jersey, who \u2018played an off-the-books role in government decisions\u2019 with \u2018no formal training in engineering or architecture,\u2019 according to the newspaper (Getty Images)<\/p>\n
![\"Washington\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2285643032...jpeg\")
Washington\u2019s top federal prosecutor Jeanine Pirro concluded the destruction was the \u2018result of a flawed installation by the contractor\u2019 (AFP\/Getty)<\/p>\n