In April, President Donald Trump announced that the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was being renovated to address long-standing cosmetic and structural issues. He initially promised a gleaming blue pool that would be fixed in a week at a cost of $1.5 million, much less than what previous administrations had paid for work on the national landmark.
But four months later the results of the project have not lived up to Trump's rhetoric, which has in some cases become increasingly hyperbolic.
Here's a look at his many claims and the facts around them.
TRUMP, on April 23 at an Oval Office event: "Our job will take one week and will cost about a million and a half dollars."
THE FACTS: Work is ongoing 15 weeks later. The pool was drained for a second time in mid-July to address returning algae blooms and issues with a new coating that was peeling. Trump's estimates of the project's cost have increased as work has progressed, to "less than $20 million." Records show that more than $16 million worth of contracts have been awarded for the project so far.
TRUMP, on April 23 in a video: "And I said, no, there's a better way of doing it. I said, what we're going to do is I'm going to call all three of these people that have worked for me in the past, doing swimming pools.
THE FACTS: Trump bragged on multiple occasions about calling up contractors he had worked with previously who could fix the pool and multiple no-bid contracts were...
In April, President Donald Trump announced that the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was being renovated to address long-standing cosmetic and structural issues. He initially promised a gleaming b...