Interior secretary says administration will use the same company to repair Reflecting Pool

Trump administrationInterior secretary says Trump administration will use the same company to repair Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool damageThe administration has faced scrutiny for awarding a multimillion-dollar, no-bid contract to a company that previously worked on Trump properties.Listen to this article with a free profile00:0000:00Pieces of the blue paint have come loose since work on the pool concluded, and algae bloomed in the water, giving it a bright green shade.Chip Somodevilla / Getty ImagesShareAdd NBC News to GoogleJuly 5, 2026, 5:25 PM EDTBy Raquel Coronell UribeInterior Secretary Doug Burgum said Sunday that the government will use the same company that was awarded a multimillion-dollar, no-bid contract to paint the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to repair damage to its original work.Limited time: Save 25% on NBC News subscriptionGet exclusive reporting, live Q&As and ad-free reading.Burgum said in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” that the company the government used to paint the base of the pool “American flag blue” did “extremely well,” alleging that chunks of paint have become loose because of vandalism.“We will use the same company because they did a fantastic job,” Burgum said.The administration has faced scrutiny after it awarded a $13.1 million, no-bid contract to paint the pool to Atlantic Industrial Coatings, a company that previously worked on Trump properties.Trump originally estimated the price at $1.5 million to $2 million. Atlantic Industrial Coatings owner Eddie Wood told NBC News last month that the project was initially priced at $13.1 million and then increased to $14.6 million, citing additional work from the National Park Service.Pieces of the blue paint have come loose since work on the pool concluded, and algae bloomed in the water, giving it a bright green shade. The government awarded an additional $1.7 million contract to Green Water Solutions, a company linked to a wealthy Trump donor, to eliminate the algae.P...