Trump's "Pool Guy" Reflecting Pool Contract Hits $13.1M — 7x What He Promised — and Now Faces a Lawsuit

In May 2026, the New York Times reported how the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool — one of the most iconic public spaces in America — got a no-bid paint job from a company hand-selected by the president.

The contract — and the cost explosion

• Contractor: Atlantic Industrial Coatings, a Virginia firm that had never previously held a federal contract
• Trump's promise: $1.8 million
• Initial no-bid contract: $6.9 million — already 3.8x the promise
• Interior Dept. added: another $6.2 million in contract modifications
• Current total: $13.1 million — over 7x what Trump promised
• Competitive bidding: none — the administration invoked an "urgency" exemption, citing Trump's self-imposed July 4 deadline

The "pool guy" who doesn't do pools

Trump said he consulted with three companies that had worked on his swimming pools and chose one that had performed work at his Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia. He called them his "pool guy."

The company's website tells a different story. Atlantic Industrial Coatings specializes in waterproofing highway culverts, pipes, roofs, and chemical and water storage tanks. There is no mention of swimming pools anywhere on their website. The NYT could not independently confirm the company had ever worked for Trump's golf club.

The president gave a $6.9 million no-bid contract to a company he calls his pool guy, that doesn't do pools, to paint a reflecting pool that isn't a pool.

The color

Trump personally selected "American Flag Blue" as the new color for the Reflecting Pool's surface. The pool — designed to reflect the sky and the Lincoln Memorial, which is why it's called a reflecting pool — is being painted an opaque blue that defeats the purpose of its existence. Trump drove his motorcade across the drained pool to personally inspect the work.

The algae problem

Experts have warned that the blue paint will not solve the pool's actual problem: algae growth. Tim Auerhahn, chairman of the Aquatic Council, stated: "Painting is not going to solve that problem." After the last major renovation in 2012, the pool had to be drained and cleaned at a cost of $100,000 within weeks of reopening — because of algae.

The likely outcome: a $13.1M blue paint job that turns green by August.

The lawsuit

A nonprofit dedicated to landscape architecture has filed a lawsuit to halt the blue paint job, arguing the Trump administration violated federal law requiring advance scrutiny of projects that alter historic landmarks. The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is a National Historic Landmark — you can't just paint it a new color because the president thinks it would look better without following the review process.

The pattern

This follows the same template as every Trump vanity construction project:

• No competitive bidding — "urgency" exemptions for self-imposed deadlines
• Costs that multiply 7x between the announcement and the final bill
• Contractors selected by personal relationship, not by qualification
• Cosmetic upgrades prioritized over functional repairs

The White House ballroom: $400M, halted by a judge. The triumphal arch: 250 feet, opposed by veterans. The reflecting pool: $1.8M announced, $13.1M actual, to a company that waterproofs culverts, now facing a lawsuit. The common thread is a president who treats national landmarks as personal property and public money as a decorator's budget — with no competitive process, no accountability, and no one in the room who can say no.