The Cultural Landscape Foundation sued today to stop the $13.1 million paint job on the floor of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
The original quote was $1.5 million. The Trump administration skipped competitive bidding, the normal process for federal contracts this size. They handed the work to a Virginia company that painted the swimming pool at Trump’s golf club. Trump wanted turquoise, “like in the Bahamas.” The owner talked him down to “American flag blue.”
Trump’s motorcade drove him across the drained pool last Thursday so he could inspect the paint. For over a century, architect Henry Bacon’s Lincoln Memorial and Reflecting Pool have mirrored the grandeur of the National Mall. Trump decided it should instead look like a three-star hotel in Nassau, with a job that will pay one of his vendors more than eight times what he told the American people. Use 5 Calls or Resistbot to tell your representatives to open an investigation into Trump’s latest grift.
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Trump posts plan to deploy 'Election Integrity Army' in every state for 2026 midterms, responding to new Democratic election protection task force.
Today’s GovBrief News
New poll finds 24% of Americans believe the April attempt on Trump's life at the Correspondents' dinner was staged.
Source: USA Today
May 11, 2026
Trump nominates Cameron Hamilton to lead FEMA before hurricane season, a year after firing him for opposing the agency's elimination.
Source: NPR
May 11, 2026
Trump nominates election deniers Kari Lake and Doug Mastriano as ambassadors to Jamaica and Slovakia, four years after losing battleground governor races.
Source: Politico
May 11, 2026
Trump rejects Iran's reply to peace proposal as "garbage" and says ceasefire is on life support, days before asking Xi to pressure Iran.
Source: CBS News
May 11, 2026
Missouri Supreme Court hears three challenges Tuesday to mid-decade congressional map designed to flip Cleaver's Kansas City seat.
Source: KSHB Kansas City
May 11, 2026
Supreme Court vacates ruling that Alabama intentionally diluted Black voting power, clearing path for one-district map eight days before primary.
Source: Roll Call
May 11, 2026
Virginia Democrats ask Supreme Court to revive voter-approved redistricting map that state high court tossed Friday, days before ballot deadline.
Source: WRIC
May 11, 2026
Senate advances Warsh to chair Federal Reserve, putting him on track to replace Powell this week, after DOJ dropped its criminal probe of Powell.
Source: The Hill
May 11, 2026
Justice Alito extends temporary stay keeping mifepristone available by mail through Thursday, after Louisiana won 5th Circuit ruling restricting access.
Source: SCOTUSblog
May 11, 2026
Sixth Circuit becomes third appeals court to block mandatory detention for longtime undocumented residents, deepening 3-2 split likely headed to Supreme Court.
Source: Courthouse News Service
May 11, 2026
Photo and video show Trump with eyes closed for an extended period at White House maternal health event, prompting White House to insist he was "blinking."
Source: Mediaite
May 11, 2026
Trump nominates Serco executive David Cummins to lead TSA after shutdown left employees unpaid and thousands of agents off the job.
Source: The Associated Press
May 11, 2026
Trump tells law enforcement event the White House was a "shit house" with falling columns when he returned, defending his renovations and ballroom.
Source: Mediaite
May 11, 2026
Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool repainting cost balloons from Trump's promised $1.5M to $13.1M, all to a no-bid Virginia contractor who works at his golf club.
Source: The Independent
May 11, 2026
Trump Mobile quietly rewrites fine print to say T1 gold phone may never be made, a year after taking $100 deposits and pushing back four ship dates.
Source: Fortune
May 11, 2026
Preservation group sues to halt Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool repainting, saying Trump bypassed historic review to coat it "American Flag Blue."
Source: Washingtonian
May 11, 2026