Trump confirms that the reflecting pool at the Lincoln Memorial is nearly complete and will be refilled 'this week' after months of restoration work

President Donald Trump stated on Tuesday that restoration work on the Lincoln Memorial's reflecting pool is nearing completion and that the iconic site could be refilled with water as early as this week. At the same time, the president said workers had completed the main restoration and replaced the old pipes, while continuing to attribute the problems that arose during the project to vandalism.

"I think they're going to fill it up this week. The Reflecting Pool is totally complete, and we changed the old pipes we wanted to get open for July 4. I think it’s almost complete, from what I understand," Trump said in a video posted on various X accounts, while speaking with several reporters in front of the White House, to whom he again suggested that acts of vandalism were responsible for the problems that arose with the reflecting pool earlier this year. "Well, we had vandalism there and we have it about as vandal-proof as you can get. But only sick people do that, and we have their pictures," Trump said, who also explained the landscaping work carried out between the Reflecting Pool and the World War II National Memorial. According to the president, new grass was installed after the previous grass was "destroyed."

Last September, court documents revealed that a National Park Service engineer warned the Trump administration in early June that the lining at the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial's reflecting pool was peeling away because of the restoration process and the materials used. Despite that warning, Trump accused several people of "destroying" the pool after it reopened to the public. In addition, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia charged former Olympic athlete David Hearn with property destruction during a June 19 visit.

Last week, Judge Todd Edelman permanently dismissed the case against Hearn. Although the Department of Justice withdrew the case after new evidence emerged, the former Olympic athlete's attorneys said they were concerned Trump might pressure prosecutors to reopen it.

The cases against three other individuals also accused of vandalizing the pool were dropped, but Hearn's defense attorneys said they feared Trump would single him out specifically because he is politically active and had previously made donations to Democratic campaigns.

In permanently dismissing the case, Edelman echoed those concerns and cited public statements by Trump after his top prosecutor for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro, dropped the case.