Washington DC - Workers began draining Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool again on Sunday, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum confirmed on Tuesday, following a series of expensive problems i
"We just complete this incredible milestone in our history, with celebrations from coast-to-coast, amazing things going on… And every question question [is] about the reflecting pool," Burgum lamented during an appearance on Katie Miller's Podcast.
Burgum went on to praise President Donald Trump's experience as a property developer and claim that the pool was leaking 45,000 gallons of water a day.
After ranting about AI data centers for a moment, Miller asked him about plans to drain the pool again.
"It started last night, ah, um, or yesterday, after we got done with the fireworks, because we wanted to wait," Burgum said. "Because part of this amazing, record-setting fireworks show that we had was, well, where they're launched from, part of that is directly next to the reflecting pool."
"So you do end up with some fireworks debris, so there is an annual post-fireworks cleanup that goes on with the reflecting pool," he said.
Burgum then revealed the steps going forward: "Drain the water, clean up the fireworks stuff, repair the vandalism that was done, fill it back again."
The White House will continue to use the same contractor, which has alleged links to the Trump family, for the second round of repairs. Its first attempt, for which it was paid more than $14 million, ended with a bright-green algal bloom and peeling paint.
Trump blamed the shocking state of the pool on "terrible vandals" and sabotage by his political opponents. The Department of Justice last week charged an ex-Olympian with felony vandalism, for which he could face a decade in prison.