In late June 2026, a rumor spread that fences went up around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool after U.S. President Donald Trump claimed that vandals had sabotaged his effort to renovate and repair the pool, a process that included covering its surface with an "American flag blue" coating.
Several social media posts shared the claim, including on Facebook and Reddit. On X, one post shared a video with a watermark for TMZ, the digital tabloid, showing workers setting up fences around the pool as it rained. The text of the post said "the Trump regime" was fencing up the perimeter of the pool (archived):
Another post on X that shared the same video said the reason for the fence was to protect the pool from vandals. Meanwhile, Snopes readers reached out to verify the legitimacy of the claim.
The story was true. In an emailed statement, the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees the National Park Service in charge of the reflecting pool, said that fences intended to surround the pool to maintain safety during the country's 250th anniversary celebrations went up ahead of schedule to protect the pool from "vandalism by leftist activists."
TMZ first published the video report showing workers setting up fences around the pool on June 23, 2026. More video reports appeared that day and the next, including on local news channel WUSA9 and a Washington, D.C., Fox affiliate:
"The Reflecting Pool was always set to be fenced off ahead of the 4th of July," the emailed statement from the DOI said. "As in years prior, one of the launch pads for the fireworks is around the pool so fencing is put up to ensure public safety. With the increase in vandalism by leftist activists, the fencing is going up earlier than originally planned to ensure no more damage is done to this historic site."
Asked to share evidence of "vandalism by leftist activists," the DOI shared a link to a statement from the White House, which read, in part:
Crazed and deranged lunatics have once again exposed their hatred for America with a cowardly, deliberate attack on one of our nation's most iconic landmarks — the newly renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
President Donald J. Trump was right from the beginning. Fake News hacks and so-called "experts" immediately rushed to mock him, call him a liar, and blame the Trump Administration's successful renovation instead of the vandals — but they were dead wrong.
The statement also linked to a U.S. Park Police post on X, which shared the video of what appeared to be a young woman pulling up a piece of the pool's new coating:
The post said the video was shot on June 19, after the coating began to flake.
The White House statement also referred to "deliberate slashes cut through the liner, sides and coating," linking to a video on X that showed an irregular white crack at the bottom of the pool.
It also linked to a June 24 declaration by Frank Lands, deputy director for operations at the NPS, in which he said:
[...] a caulk over the foam sealant that was cut with a sharp knife or razor and destruction of delaminating surface material. In addition, approximately 70 fence post tops were thrown into the pool.
Snopes has covered several claims related to Trump's renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and the problems that have arisen since, including the claim that "antifa operatives" had been arrested in relation to damage at the pool.