Trump Orders Immediate Repairs to Reflecting Pool and Police Arrest 5, Including US Olympian

President Trump has ordered immediate repairs to the recently renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool after he accused vandals of destroying its new paint finish, and algae has reemerged.

Vandalism: Trump accused vandals of putting "a 250-foot-long gash into the beautiful facade" and pouring "corrosive and destructive chemicals into the Pool." Media outlets and visitors have reported seeing chunks of the pool's new blue paint finish floating in the pool. US Attorney for Washington DC Jeanine Pirro (Right bias) told her former employer, Fox News (Right), on Sunday, "Anyone who is in a position of vandalising or attempting to vandalise will face the criminal justice system in DC." CBS News (Lean Left) reported that, according to an administration official, five people were arrested for vandalism, and five more received citations on Saturday night. According to The Wall Street Journal (Center), this week, National Park Service workers have tried to clean algae from the pool by pouring hydrogen peroxide into the water and vacuuming the floor. The Journal wrote, "Hydrogen peroxide can also be used as a paint remover."

Olympian Arrest: Most notably, media outlets have covered the arrest of 67-year-old David Hearn, a canoeist who represented the United States three times at the Olympics. A video of his arrest spread online. Hearn denied he vandalised the pool and said he only reached in to feel what the peeling paint felt like out of curiosity. Fox News highlighted that he told Associated Press (Left), "I'm a curious citizen. I reached down to see what it felt like. It was very rubbery." Hearn told BBC News that he "didn't destroy, rip, tear, peel, or remove any part" and that "The condition of any part of the reflecting pool didn't change." Hearn was arrested in 1996 for canoeing on the Potomac River during an emergency river closure, though he beat the charges, as federal park police didn't technically have jurisdiction over the river. Many outlets didn't mention his former arrest, though Fox News offered in-depth context. Some outlets from the left, including CBS News, noted that Hearn "owned a company that provided materials to build watercraft," a detail most other outlets left out.

Algae Problem: Another main storyline in recent weeks has been the reemergence of algae in the pool. Last week, outlets from the left and center widely covered this, while outlets from the right barely did. The Interior Department claimed the algae reemergence was "part of the normal startup process" for the nanobubbler technology installed to destroy it. Several mainstream outlets reported it as a new algae bloom and many have since continued with this framing.

For Context: Trump announced the renovation plans in November, which were overseen by the Interior Department. The renovations cost an estimated $14 million. President Trump has criticized previous administrations, most notably the Obama administration, for renovation efforts that his administration believes were unsuccessful. Last month, media outlets framed the project's progress differently, with Fox News (Right) and The New York Times (Lean Left) offering particularly contrasting headlines.

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