2026-06-06T10:00:01.000Z / 《华盛顿邮报》
唐纳德·特朗普总统大力宣传他改造林肯纪念堂倒影池的项目，称其为2000英尺长的样板，体现了他美化美国首都的计划。
“我为此感到非常自豪，”特朗普周三在椭圆形办公室说道，并补充说泳池很快就会重新开放，坚称他耗时六周的项目终于解决了泳池多年来的漏水问题。“我非常擅长建造和搭建事物。”
他的批评者则认为这个项目另有玄机：特朗普如何无视监管、程序和长期以来的规范，在重塑华盛顿的过程中强行推行自己的意志。
“这表明在本届政府治下，我们华盛顿共享的文化景观遗产是多么脆弱，”当地维权组织负责人查尔斯·伯恩鲍姆说道，该组织曾起诉要求阻止特朗普对倒影池进行改造。特朗普政府的承包商在联邦法官对该案作出裁决前就完成了该项目。
长期以来，美国首都的大型建筑项目都受到一系列联邦委员会、规划委员会和要求公众参与的法律法规的约束，对任何试图改造城市的总统形成制约。
但在第二任期内，特朗普将华盛顿视为一块画布，按照自己的愿景重塑地标和公共空间。
他拆除了白宫东翼以建造计划中的宴会厅，围栏封锁了白宫外的拉斐特广场，还对当地公园和景点进行了数十项其他改造。他还在推进一座250英尺高的凯旋门、一座大型雕塑花园以及对该市历史悠久的公共高尔夫球场的改造。他解雇了联邦审查小组的留任人员，安插了同意以最少监督和前所未有的速度推进其项目的副手。
总统的支持者——甚至包括一些住在华盛顿的特朗普批评者——都称赞他清理了城市部分区域，修复了许多主要公园中长期破败的喷泉。几位民主党议员也承认，过多的繁文缛节延缓了必要的翻新工作。
但特朗普的做法引发了来自保护主义者、国会议员和全国选民的越来越强烈的反对，他们称他单方面改造公共空间的行为超出了其职权范围。
“众所周知，华盛顿的国家公园长期以来需要大量帮助，”全国公园保护协会官员埃德·斯蒂尔利说道，他提到了数十亿美元的逾期维护积压项目。他补充说，美国建国250周年是振兴这座城市的合适时机，但“实施方式不应该是这样的”。
几名曾试图叫停特朗普宴会厅项目的联邦法官指责政府在拆除东翼并开始修建特朗普的宴会厅前没有停下来寻求公众意见。
巴拉克·奥巴马总统任命的帕特里夏·安·米利特法官周五质问了一名司法部律师，该律师辩称某团体未能及时起诉，因此法院无权下令叫停特朗普的宴会厅项目。
“所以只要快速行动、打破常规，就没有人有起诉资格了？”米利特说道。
民主党人还就特朗普为改造华盛顿所提供的资金方式抨击了总统。政府已将数百万美元的公园费用重新定向用于特朗普在当地的建筑和翻新项目。
“这是错误的，是 misguided（判断失误的），”众议员艾米丽·兰德尔（D-华盛顿州）在上个月与内政部长道格·伯根的听证会上说道。“伯根部长，您认为哪个更优先：修复对徒步旅行者构成安全隐患的桥梁，还是改造倒影池的池底？”
“嗯，我的答案是两者都要，”伯根回应道。
特朗普于4月宣布启动倒影池项目，承诺联邦政府将在大约一周内完成泳池表面翻新，耗资不到200万美元。他还吹嘘自己在房地产生涯中建造了“100多个游泳池”的专业知识，并补充说他邀请了自己的私人承包商参与，帮助他为泳池池底选择了一种全新的高反光颜色：“美国国旗蓝”。
该项目最终耗时六周，耗资超过1000万美元，远超特朗普最初的预估。总统对不断升级的批评感到恼火，包括《纽约时报》关于成本上涨的报道。伯恩鲍姆所在的文化景观基金会上个月提起诉讼，要求暂停施工，该组织警告称，在公众能够发表意见之前，施工将造成不可逆转的影响。
斯蒂尔利对此表示赞同，他指出泳池长期以来饱受藻华问题困扰，并对新的深蓝色池底的影响表示担忧。
“这会提高水温吗？会导致更多藻华吗？对倒影池的水质会有什么影响？”他问道。“这些都是通常会在审查过程中得到解答的问题，但在这个案例中，这一过程根本没有进行。”
但随着项目完工、泳池重新注水，特朗普宣布了胜利。本周在椭圆形办公室，他暗示自己的翻新工程堪比摩天大楼建设，多次展示一张海报，将2030英尺长的倒影池与美国一些最高建筑进行比较。他在社交媒体上分享了一段AI生成的视频，视频中特朗普用批评者的眼泪填满泳池，还辩称该项目的规模远超批评者的认知。
“这不仅仅是刷漆，”特朗普周五在Truth Social上写道。“这是用非常有才华的人员涂抹的、可使用100年的高强度工业级精密材料。”
周四下午漫步到倒影池证实，全新的“美国国旗蓝”池面正如承诺的那样极具反光性。池水从池中央的一个喷口涌出，沿着池中心流淌。工程车辆仍停在池内靠近边缘的地方。时不时会有一辆载有工人的高尔夫球车驶过水面，留下类似快艇驶过的尾迹。五名摄影师和三名电视摄制组人员聚集在林肯纪念堂的台阶上记录这一场景。
“有只鸭子！”其中一人喊道，一只飞鸟在泳池中途的水面上降落。
一些游客表示，该项目的成果超出了他们的预期。
“看到它能反光，我真的很受鼓舞，”62岁的马克·威克斯来自亚历山大市。他说自己几乎每天都骑车到倒影池，一直饶有兴趣又忐忑地关注着这个项目，直到池水重新注满才做出判断。
“我不是特朗普的支持者，但如果这件事做得对，那就是对的，”威克斯说道。“所以在这件事上，或许是对的。我不知道。”
“我觉得这太棒了，”17岁的迈克尔·帕维奇说道。“它会很好地反射景物。颜色越深，水的反光性就越强。”
从圣地亚哥来参观的帕维奇戴着一顶“特朗普2028”的帽子。他正在欣赏华盛顿的景点，很高兴看到总统的改进。“特朗普，他正在做了不起的事情，”帕维奇说道。“他是真正的领袖，正在让这座城市变得安全又美丽。”
并非所有人都认同这一点。
“我认为没有必要，”一名停下来的骑车人说道，他摘下偏光太阳镜看水流。他不愿透露全名，因为担心会受到职业报复。“我们本可以把钱花在其他很多、更好的地方。”
他提到自己在阿灵顿纪念大桥上看到的一块标语牌，上面说总统正在让华盛顿变得安全又美丽——这也是对去年夏天在特朗普敦促下部署到华盛顿特区的国民警卫队的呼应。
“华盛顿本来就安全又美丽，”这名骑车人说道。“这全是宣传。”
在本周宣传他的倒影池翻新工程完工之际，特朗普宣布了附近的一个新项目：建造一座人行桥，将国家广场与波托马克河连接起来。
历史学家和保护主义者表示，他们对特朗普的行事节奏和方式已经感到疲惫不堪。
“真正关心我们共享文化遗产的组织，我们被迫只能打地鼠游戏，”伯恩鲍姆说道。
Newly blue Reflecting Pool is latest sign of Trump’s rush to put stamp on D.C.
2026-06-06T10:00:01.000Z / The Washington Post
President Donald Trump has touted his project to overhaul the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, calling it a 2,000-foot-long example of his plan to beautify the nation’s capital city.
“I’m very proud of it,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Wednesday, adding the pool would soon reopen and insisting that his six-week project had finally solved the pool’s years-long leaking issues. “I’m very good at building things and constructing things.”
His critics see the project as evidence of something else: how Trump has bulldozed through regulations, process and long-held norms to impose his will as he remakes Washington.
“It illustrates how vulnerable our shared cultural landscape heritage is in Washington under this administration,” said Charles Birnbaum, leader of a local advocacy organization that sued to stop Trump’s changes to the Reflecting Pool. The Trump administration’s contractors finished the project before a federal judge could rule in the case.
Major construction projects in the nation’s capital have long been governed by a web of federal commissions, planning boards and laws requiring public input, creating checks on any president seeking to transform the city.
But in his second term, Trump has treated Washington as a canvas, reshaping landmarks and public spaces according to his own vision.
He demolished the White House’s East Wing to build his planned ballroom, fenced off Lafayette Square outside the White House and undertook dozens of other renovations to local parks and sites. He is also pursuing a 250-foot-tall triumphal arch, a large statuary garden and an overhaul of the city’s historic public golf course. He has fired holdovers on federal review panels and installed deputies who have acceded to his projects with minimal oversight and unprecedented speed.
The president’s supporters — and even some Trump critics who live in Washington — have credited him for cleaning up parts of the city and restoring long-decrepit fountains in many major parks. Several Democratic lawmakers have acknowledged that too much red tape has slowed necessary renovation work.
But Trump’s approach has triggered a growing backlash from preservationists, members of Congress and voters across the country, who say that he is exceeding his authority by unilaterally remaking public spaces.
“It’s no secret that the national parks in D.C. have needed a lot of help for a long time,” said Ed Stierli, an official with the advocacy group National Parks Conservation Association, citing a multibillion-dollar backlog in deferred maintenance. He added that America’s 250th anniversary was an appropriate time to revitalize the city — but “the way it’s being done is not the way that this should be handled,” he said.
Several federal judges who have weighed a halt to Trump’s ballroom project have rebuked the administration for not stopping to seek public comment before tearing down the East Wing and starting work on Trump’s ballroom.
Judge Patricia Ann Millett, an appointee of President Barack Obama, on Friday pressed a Justice Department lawyer who argued that a group didn’t sue quickly enough to justify a court-ordered halt to Trump’s ballroom project.
“So just move fast and break things and nobody has standing,” Millett said.
Democrats have also assailed the president over how he is funding his changes to Washington. The administration has redirected millions of dollars in park fees to Trump’s local construction and renovation projects.
“This is wrong. It’s misguided,” Rep. Emily Randall (D-Washington) said in a hearing with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum last month. “Secretary Burgum, which do you think should be the higher priority: fixing a bridge that is a safety hazard for hikers, or changing the bottom of the Reflecting Pool?”
“Well, my answer would be both,” Burgum replied.
Trump announced the Reflecting Pool effort in April, pledging that the federal government would resurface the pool in about one week and for less than $2 million. He also touted his expertise at building “more than 100 swimming pools” during his real estate career, adding that he had involved his personal contractors who helped him select a new, highly reflective color for the pool’s basin: “American Flag Blue.”
The project ultimately took six weeks and cost more than $10 million, far more than Trump initially projected. The president bristled at mounting criticism, including New York Times reports about the rising cost. Birnbaum’s organization, the Cultural Landscape Foundation, sued last month to pause work it warned would be irreversible until the public could weigh in.
Stierli agreed, noting the pool’s long struggles with algae blooms and wondering about the impact of the new, dark blue basin.
“Would that increase the water temperature? Would it lead to more algae blooms? What will the impact be to the water quality of the Reflecting Pool?” he asked. “These are all questions that would normally be answered during that review process that just was not done in this case.”
But with the project done and the pool refilled, Trump has claimed victory. In the Oval Office this week, he implied that his renovation project was as impressive as skyscraper construction, repeatedly holding up a poster that compared the 2,030-foot-long Reflecting Pool to some of the nation’s tallest buildings. He took to social media to share an AI-generated video that showed Trump filling the pool with the tears of his critics, and he has argued that the project is far more expansive than his critics give him credit for.
“This was not a paint job,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday. “This was highly sophisticated material, industrial strength, that could last for 100 years, applied by very talented people.”
A Thursday afternoon stroll down to the Reflecting Pool confirmed that the new American Flag Blue surface was, as promised, very reflective. Water burbled up from a spout in the middle of the pool, spilling down its center. Construction vehicles were still parked inside the pool, toward its edges. Every once in a while, a golf cart loaded with workers would drive through the water, leaving a speedboat wake. Five photographers and three television camera crews had gathered at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to document it.
“We have a duck!” one of them cried, as a winged visitor landed in the water about halfway down the pool.
Some visitors said the project’s outcome exceeded their expectations.
“I’m really encouraged to see that it’s reflecting,” said Mark Wicks, 62, of Alexandria. He cycles to the Reflecting Pool nearly every day, he says, and had been watching the project with interest and trepidation, withholding judgment until the water came back.
“I’m not a Trump fan, but if it’s the right thing to do, it’s the right thing to do,” Wicks said. “So in this case, maybe it was. I don’t know.”
“I think it’s amazing,” said Michael Pavich, 17. “It’s going to reflect it nice and well. The darker it is, the more reflective the water is going to be.”
Pavich, who was visiting from San Diego, wore a “Trump 2028” hat. He was taking in the sights around D.C. and was happy to see the president’s improvements. “Trump, he’s doing amazing things,” Pavich said. “He’s a true leader, and he’s making it safe and beautiful.”
Not everyone agreed.
“I think it wasn’t necessary,” said a cyclist who had stopped by and removed his polarized sunglasses to see the water flowing. He declined to share his full name because he feared professional repercussions. “We could be spending the money in so many other, right, better ways.”
He referenced a sign he had seen on the Arlington Memorial Bridge that said the president was making D.C. safe and beautiful — a reference also to the National Guard troops deployed to the District at Trump’s urging last summer.
“D.C. was already safe and beautiful,” the cyclist said. “It’s all propaganda.”
As he touted the end of his Reflecting Pool renovation this week, Trump announced a new, nearby project: building a pedestrian bridge that would connect the National Mall with the Potomac River.
Historians and preservationists said they were exhausted by Trump’s pace and approach.
“Organizations that really care about our shared cultural heritage, we’re just forced to play a game of whack-a-mole,” Birnbaum said.
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