The contractor repairing Washington’s Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has told the Trump administration that installation errors — not vandals — caused the new blue liner to peel, blister and fail.

Contractor points finger at its own work

Atlantic Industrial Coatings blamed “human oversight” for areas where workers failed to apply enough primer to bind the liner’s layers. But the company identified a bigger problem: the repair plan specified two chemicals that proved incompatible.

The upper compound became hotter than the layer beneath could tolerate, causing the lower coating to blister and detach from the concrete. Atlantic said it had not anticipated the reaction because the products are rarely combined in that way.

Trump’s vandalism claims come under pressure

Donald Trump has repeatedly blamed vandals armed with knives or box cutters for the damage, calling them “sick people”. Atlantic did identify cuts to caulking around the pool’s edge that were blamed on vandals, but the contractor did not link those cuts to the widespread peeling of the blue floor coating.

The findings follow the collapse of a criminal case against people accused of damaging the landmark. Washington’s former US attorney Jeanine Pirro said prosecutors had been misled about how much damage was caused by vandalism rather than a “botched installation”.

Repairs have run into more problems

Workers began stripping the failed coating in August, using razor blades, hammers and crowbars to remove material stuck to the concrete. Attempts to reapply the blue coating produced fresh blisters when the same chemical combination was used.

Atlantic has now stopped applying the hotter compound over the lower layer. The contractor has also identified sweat from workers in protective suits as another possible source of moisture trapped beneath the coating.

$14.7m project remains unfinished

The government has agreed to pay Atlantic $14.7 million for the work, with repairs being carried out again under warranty. The company plans to use a smaller crew, tighter supervision and an adviser from the chemical manufacturer.

Trump had wanted the pool ready before July 4, the nation’s 250th birthday. Instead, the landmark remains drained months later, leaving a highly publicised presidential renovation effort facing fresh questions over planning, contracting and accountability.

Reflecting Pool contractor says repair errors caused failures instead of 'vandals'

Larry the Lying Pool Noodle tried to frame a tourist.

Good job Donald ,like everything else you F#ck up, are they still

trying to charge Davy at a later date ,and will not drop the case

as that would mean the dear leader was wrong about vandal's

he is the only vandal destroying America and the World....

regards worgeordie

A pool? A pond?

Specifically, a pond with flesh eating algae Donnie.

I can't believe it!

Our reliable maga posters told us that Trump had information that the media didn't have, and also that the Olympic athlete wasn't arrested for no reason! 😅

1 hour ago, bannork said:

Washington’s former US attorney Jeanine Pirro ....

Your source has inside information?

9 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Your source has inside information?

It's pooled info from various sources, bit watered down, but reflects the latest info.

Forget about the Strait of Hormuz and Bab-El-Mandeb, they can't even keep a shallow pool in the middle of their own capital city open.

29 minutes ago, couchpotato said:

It's pooled info from various sources, bit watered down, but reflects the latest info.

So she's gone?