A company contracted to renovate the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool has acknowledged that flaws in the repair plan and insufficient human oversight led to damage of the newly installed liner, according to documents reviewed by The New York Times. These findings directly challenge President Donald Trump’s repeated assertions that the damage was the result of vandalism.
The contractor, Atlantic Industrial Coatings, was awarded a $14.7 million no-bid contract for the project. Internal documents indicate that the company attributed the peeling and tearing of the “American flag blue” liner to its own execution of the repair work and a defective design plan, rather than external malicious acts.
President Trump has consistently claimed that individuals armed with knives or box cutters were responsible for destroying the pool’s lining. However, the contractor’s admission that the issues stemmed from internal operational errors contradicts the president’s narrative regarding the cause of the damage.
Human error is embarrassing, but at least they admitted it. Imagine paying millions for a pool you could not even fix properly.
Skepticism here. Why did no one question the $14.7 million no-bid contract initially? Something smells fishy about the whole process.
Wait, did this really happen? I must have missed that report. Can someone link the original contractor statement?
I am shocked. I honestly thought vandals did it after seeing the news. This changes everything about the narrative.
Finally, some accountability. It is refreshing to see a contractor own up to mistakes instead of blaming others.