Water begins flowing into Reflecting Pool with blue paint job complete [View all]

Source: WTOP

Water begins flowing into Reflecting Pool with blue paint job complete

Will Vitka | will.vitka@wtop.com
June 4, 2026, 2:11 PM


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The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool began refilling Thursday with water bubbling up through pipes at the center of the pool, slowly unveiling the full effect of a recent dark-blue paint job.

Work to resurface the reflecting pool was completed Wednesday and the pool is expected to be refilled no later than Sunday, according to a court filing from U.S. Department of the Interior attorneys.

During an event Thursday, President Donald Trump showed a video of the refilling basin. ... “That’s clean, beautiful water,” the president said.

Trump had said a social media post Wednesday that water would begin to flow “shortly.” ... “The walking paths outside of the Pool will, likewise, be cleaned, sandblasted, and finished soon,” he wrote. “This will be the first time since the day it was built, 1922, that it has worked, and worked wonderfully, indeed!”

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Will Vitka
William Vitka is a Digital Writer/Editor for WTOP.com. He's been in the news industry for over a decade. Before joining WTOP, he worked for CBS News, Stuff Magazine, The New York Post and wrote a variety of books—about a dozen of them, with more to come.

will.vitka@wtop.com

Read more: https://wtop.com/dc/2026/06/water-to-begin-flowing-in-reflecting-pool-with-blue-paint-job-complete-interior-department-says/