Money Grab/Give government contracts to family and donors
Park Service hands $16.5M in no-bid Reflecting Pool work to a Trump vendor and a donor
In April 2026 the National Park Service signed two sole-source contracts totaling $16.5 million to repaint the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and treat its algae, both under the “urgency” exception ahead of July 4.
What happened
In spring 2026 Trump decided the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool should be repainted a color he picked, “American Flag Blue,” in time for the July 4 celebrations. On April 3, 2026, the National Park Service signed a $14.65 million contract with Atlantic Industrial Coatings to do it. The job had started at $6.9 million.
On April 13 the Park Service signed a $1.84 million contract with Green Water Solutions for a “nano bubble” system to keep algae off the new surface. Neither contract was competed. Both cite the “urgency” exception to federal bidding rules, FAR 6.302-2.
Green Water Solutions is owned by a trust run by John J. Cafaro, an Ohio developer who gave $250,000 to Trump’s 2020 campaign fund. He pleaded guilty in 2002 to conspiring to bribe a congressman. His company had earlier worked on a pond at Trump’s Bedminster golf club. Within days of the July 4 unveiling the paint was peeling and the algae was back.
Who benefited
Atlantic Industrial Coatings and Green Water Solutions shared $16.5 million of public money. Both had prior ties to Trump’s properties and politics. The government did not put the job out to bid.
Who wanted something
Trump wanted the pool to look a certain way by July 4 and did not want the bidding process to slow it down. The Park Service supplied the paperwork.
Who lost out
Taxpayers paid more than double the original $6.9 million price for work that failed within a week. The contractors who were never asked also lost out. The Park Service used the same “urgency” exception here that it used for the Lafayette fountains, and both went to people the president already knew.
Why it matters
This is small money by this site’s standards. A swimming-pool paint job is not a national emergency. The exception was invoked because the president wanted it done, and the contracts went to a donor and a vendor from his own clubs.
Sources USAspending.gov (primary)USAspending.gov (primary)CBS NewsThe New York Times