The Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool is getting a makeover, and the $6.9 million job went to a Virginia company with a direct line to Donald Trump, awarded without competitive bidding.
Atlantic Industrial Coatings, based in New Canton, Virginia, received the no-bid contract on April 3 to restore the iconic 2,000-foot reflecting pool. The company had never previously won a federal contract, according to records reviewed by the New York Times. One of its owners, Curtis Wood, declined to comment on the award.
The company's main credential appears to be renovation work it performed on a swimming pool at Trump's Virginia golf course. Trump himself hinted at the connection during a spring announcement about the project, saying he knew "a guy who's unbelievable at doing swimming pools." The president added that the contractor "looked at it. He called me up. He said, 'Sir, we can do something on it.'"
The pool has been a persistent headache for decades. Built in 1922, the 18-to-30-inch-deep basin holds 6.75 million gallons of still water with no natural circulation. During Washington's hot, humid summers, algae blooms turn it murky green. The Obama administration spent over $35 million trying to fix the problem without success. The Biden administration simply drained and refilled it annually, while taxpayers footed the bill for 16 million gallons of water lost annually to leaks.
Trump appeared focused on a cosmetic fix. He announced plans to paint the pool blue, initially suggesting a turquoise shade "like in the Bahamas" before settling on what he called "American-flag blue." Recently, he posted an AI-generated image showing himself, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Interior Secretary Doug Burgess, and an unidentified woman in a bikini lounging in a crystalline blue version of the pool.
The administration invoked a federal contracting exemption designed for emergencies involving "serious injury, financial or other, to the government" to bypass the competitive bid process. A White House spokesperson, Taylor Rogers, said the project was being completed at "Trump speed" to have the restored landmark ready for the nation's 250th anniversary celebrations in summer.
Critics questioned both the process and the solution. Tim Whitehouse, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, told the Times that the project had "become a secretive endeavor where the friends and business associates of the president are being rewarded with no public scrutiny." The pool renovation is one of several Trump initiatives that have raised eyebrows, including paving over the Rose Garden, demolishing the East Wing to build a ballroom, and erecting a Columbus statue on White House grounds.
Experts also questioned whether paint will solve anything. Tim Auerhahn, chairperson of the Aquatic Council, told the Times that "painting is not going to solve that problem," referring to the failing filtration system. The pool could turn green regardless of its bottom color. Auerhahn noted that a recent Trump motorcade visit to the pool may have worsened the leaks and recommended an immediate structural inspection.
Author James Rodriguez: "Handing $6.9 million to a contractor with no federal track record and personal ties to the president, using an emergency exemption to skip competitive bidding, then painting over a broken filtration system as the centerpiece fix, is Trump beautification in a nutshell."
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