00:00The Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool is over a century old.
00:03As of this week, it's turning bright blue.
00:05Why are you blue?
00:06Here's what's happening.
00:07A German friend of the president visited DC
00:10and told Trump the reflecting pool of the Lincoln Memorial
00:13looked filthy and disgusting,
00:14not representative of the country.
00:16Trump then went to see it for himself and agreed.
00:19Filthy dirty, it's the water's disgusting looking.
00:21Now the Biden administration had looked into fixing it.
00:24Quotes came back at $301 million
00:26in at least three years of work.
00:28Trump wasn't interested in all that.
00:29Instead, he called up his contractor buddies
00:31he knew from his real estate days,
00:33claiming they built more than a hundred swimming pools for him.
00:36The president's original idea was to have the pool topped in turquoise,
00:39like the Bahamas,
00:41but the contractor talked him into American flag blue.
00:43The final estimate, $1.5 million, done by the 4th of July.
00:48Now this matters because the reflecting pool isn't just some landmark.
00:51It's where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his
00:53I Have a Dream speech to 250,000 people in 1963.
00:57It's still water was designed to reflect the monuments
00:59around it and the weight of the moments that happened there.
01:01And changing the color of the basin changes what it reflects.
01:05A dark bottom disappears and all you see is the sky and the monuments above it.
01:09And that kind of worked out with the murky water.
01:11A bright blue bottom becomes the thing you're looking at
01:14and it looks more like a swimming pool than a reflecting pool.
01:16And critics say that's exactly the problem here,
01:18calling this a quick fix that can damage the reputation of the monument.
01:22But supporters say this is well needed,
01:23and it's all part of Trump's plan to restore American landmarks ahead of the country's 250th birthday.
01:28Historic preservation is sworn, it'll look like a giant lap pool.
01:31So what do you think?
01:33Is this an act of patriotism or one pool that should have been left alone?
01:36Drop your take in the comments and follow us here for more.
01:38So
01:39you
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