A Washington-based nonprofit has asked a judge to halt work on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and require restoration of historic elements after the Trump administration repainted the bottom of the pool a blue color described by supporters as “American flag blue.” The lawsuit, filed Monday, targets the Interior Department and the National Park Service, which oversee much of the renovations in the nation’s capital.
In court filings described by the Associated Press, The Cultural Landscape Foundation said the administration’s changes were made without relevant preservation reviews required for historic sites. The group argued the repainting is part of a broader push for dramatic renovations in Washington that, in its view, undermines the tone and intended design of the Reflecting Pool.
Charles A. Birnbaum, the foundation’s president and CEO, said in a statement that the design intent of the Reflecting Pool is central to the visual and spatial relationship between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. He added that, in his view, a blue-tinted basin is more appropriate to a resort or theme park.
Trump has taken a personal interest in the project, including calling the area “filthy” before workers repainted the Reflecting Pool a color he has described as “American flag blue.” As MSI previously reported, Trump toured the repaint project during a motorcade and sought a firsthand look at the changes last week.
Speaking Monday evening at a Rose Garden event, Trump said the pool would be reopened “sometime next week, week after.” He did not directly address the lawsuit during his remarks but defended the change, saying, “This is not paint,” and calling it “highly sophisticated stuff” while rebuffing criticism that the work was simply a paint job.
The suit seeks to force the Trump administration to stop the Reflecting Pool work and restore historic elements, according to The Cultural Landscape Foundation’s complaint. The nonprofit’s filing centers on the legal requirement, it said, that federal preservation rules be followed before such changes proceed at a landmark site.
In response, Katie Martin, an Interior Department spokeswoman, said in a statement that Trump “has done more to make our nation’s capital a shining beacon than any other president in the history of this country.” She said the Department was “proud” of work by the Park Service to ensure the Reflecting Pool area could be enjoyed for the capital’s upcoming 250th anniversary and “for many generations to come.”
The Reflecting Pool case is one of several legal fights involving Trump-era renovation efforts, the AP report said.