Trump's 'American flag blue' reflecting pool project gets a mixed reaction in D.C.

Workers paint a corner of the reflecting pool blue on Monday morning. Rachel Treisman/NPR hide caption toggle caption Rachel Treisman/NPR WASHINGTON — On a typical spring morning in D.C., the area around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool bustles with runners, photographers, tourists and families of ducks. This Monday, however, the 2,030 foot-long pool sat completely empty, save for a smattering of construction vehicles, portable toilets and traffic cones. In one of the corners of the drained pool, workers stood in a cluster, spraying the bottom with what looked like blue paint. "I honestly can't tell what they're doing right now," said Laurie Collins, a lifelong D.C. resident who was taking pictures of the scene to update the nearly 180,000 followers of her Instagram account @dccitygirl . "The way it seems that they're spraying this paint it's probably going to take them a year to finish it." The pool is being resurfaced as part of President Trump's efforts to reshape iconic parts of the city. He says the project will take one week and cost $2 million. The overhaul would turn the reflecting pool from its longtime gray hue to a swimming pool-like blue. NPR has reached out to the National Park Service, which administers the National Mall, for more information about the timeline, cost and upkeep of the resurfacing, but did not hear back in time for publication. …