Trump's Trials - Group sues to stop Trump administration from repainting Reflecting Pool blue

Episode Date: May 12, 2026

President Trump’s Reflecting Pool renovation is coming in wildly over budget. Now, a nonprofit is suing to stop the project, citing the Trump administration's failure to follow procedure. Support NPR and hear every episode of Trump's Terms sponsor-free with NPR+. Sign up at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

It's Trump's terms from NPR. I'm Scott Detrow. Every episode, we bring you a story from NPR's recent coverage of the 47th president, with a focus on ways he's using power like no president before him. Here is the latest from NPR. And I'm May Martinez. A nonprofit organization is suing the Trump administration to halt plans to paint the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool blue.

Here's NPR's Anastasia Silkas. The Cultural Landscape Foundation filed its lawsuit yesterday in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. It's suing the National Park Service, the Department of the Interior and Interior Secretary Doug Bergam, saying there was no federal review of the plans to paint the reflecting pools basin blue. In the lawsuit, TCLF says such a review is mandated by the National Historic Preservation Act. Last month, President Trump revealed his plans for the pool, over. In a video the White House posted to YouTube, he said it would be completed in time for the country's 250th anniversary celebrations in July. And I said, give me a good price. We can do it for

maybe a million and a half to two million dollars as opposed to. But the New York Times reported yesterday that the project's final cost could be upwards of $13 million. That's in a no-bid contract given to affirm Trump chose per documents the Times, the Times says, it obtained. In an unsigned comment email to NPR, the Interior Department did not confirm the price of the project, but wrote, quote, the contract price reflects the effort necessary to expedite the timeline of completing the leak prevention coding project, more people, more materials, more equipment, and longer hours ahead of our 250th. Charles A. Burnbaum, the president and founder of TCLF, says the suit is not about being the design police.

He says there are bigger issues at stake. So normally you would start this process before you started doing stuff because the letter of the law is to avoid, to minimize, and to mitigate any harm that could happen to a historic resource that's part of our shared cultural heritage, let alone on the 250th anniversary of our country. Still, Burmbaum adds, the bright blue in Trump's vision interrupts the intended historic landscape design and the emotions that we associate with that place. TCLF has another open lawsuit against the federal administration. It's one of eight cultural and architecture groups

currently suing President Trump and the board of the Kennedy Center over the planned renovations of the arts complex. That construction is planned to start in July. Anastasia Zilkus and Pierre News, New York. Before we wrap up, a reminder, you can find more coverage of the Trump administration on the NPR Politics podcast, where you can hear NPR's political reporters break down the day's biggest political news with new episodes every weekday afternoon. And thanks, as always, to our NPR Plus supporters who hear every episode of the show without sponsor messages. You can learn more at plus.npr.org. I'm Scott Detrow. Thanks for listening to Trump's terms from NPR.