Contractors began painting the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool blue last week, turning one of Washington's best-known sights into the latest test of President Donald Trump's drive to make the capital "safe and beautiful" before the nation's 250th birthday this summer.
The pool stretches 2,030ft, or 620m, between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, and the work is part of Trump's commission to renovate the site. He has said the effort will solve the leaking problem and make the pool "more beautiful than ever."
The reflecting pool was built in 1922 and has long struggled with leaks, structural deterioration, faulty pipes, algae growth and bird droppings. For visitors walking along the National Mall, that history is part of the reason the renovation has drawn attention now: the attraction is both a postcard view and a piece of aging infrastructure.
Tourists and locals near the pool told reporters they were divided over the change, with some welcoming a cleaner-looking landmark and others uneasy about repainting a historic feature rather than simply repairing it. That split reflects the larger question around the project: whether a cosmetic overhaul can also fix the deeper problems that have dogged the pool for years.
That uncertainty remains unresolved. It is not clear whether the repairs can specifically address the underlying structural issues at the attraction, even as work moves ahead ahead of the summer celebrations marking 250 years since the country's founding. For Trump, the pool is meant to be a visible sign that the capital can be remade quickly. For everyone else watching the paint go on, the question is whether blue color can do the work of a real restoration.
