WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� President on Thursday went on an unannounced trip to the Lincoln Memorial to see the after he had it coated in a color he calls 鈥淎merican flag blue.鈥�
He did more than just see it 鈥� the Republican president was driven across the new coating before he got out of his SUV to make a statement and answer questions from reporters who had been taken there to await his arrival before the sun set.
The new blue coating will hide the pool’s gray stone, a color Trump said was 鈥渘ever good.鈥� The project cost nearly $2 million, he said.
鈥淚t never had the color people wanted, but now it鈥檚 going to have the great color,鈥� he said, standing in the pool surrounded by some of his Cabinet secretaries, including Doug Burgum of Interior and Markwayne Mullin of Homeland Security.
Trump had similar feelings about the gray granite exterior of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House, describing it as a 鈥渞eally bad color鈥� last year. The president wants to and two federal agencies are reviewing his proposal.
Trump said he is also working on the memorial to President Abraham Lincoln itself, but he offered no specifics, saying only that 鈥渨e have a beautiful plan鈥� in mind.
Work has been underway at the memorial for the past few years on an underground visitors鈥� center scheduled to open in June.
Trump last month announced the reflecting pool renovation during an unrelated Oval Office appearance. He said he was inspired by the complaints of a friend visiting from Germany, who he said told him the water in the pool was dark, filthy, and looked disgusting.
The project is another way for Trump to leave his mark on the city, following his to build a large ballroom there.
Critics have said Trump is spending and not enough on issues that voters care about, like the cost of living, in the run-up to the November elections. Others have said he wants the reflecting pool to look more like an actual swimming pool.
Trump lashed out when a reporter asked why he was focused on the Reflecting Pool, given U.S. military action in Iran. He said several truckloads of garbage had been hauled away after it was removed from the pool and said, 鈥淥ur country is about beauty, cleanliness, safety, great people. Not a filthy capital.鈥�
鈥淲e’re fixing up the reflecting pond to the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument and you say, 鈥榃hy are you fixing it up?鈥�” Trump continued. 鈥淏ecause you can understand dirt maybe better than I can, but I don’t allow it.鈥�
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