The construction firm Barton Malow was the contractor hired to renovate the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C. [1].
The identification of the firm follows public comments regarding the management of the project and the nature of the government's relationship with the contractor. The discrepancy highlights tensions between official procurement processes and the public descriptions of the work.
On June 30, 2020, Donald Trump drove by the reflecting pool and spoke with reporters [2]. During the interaction, he said, "I have a pool guy. He’s a great guy" [3]. This phrasing suggested a personal connection or a specific individual overseeing the repairs.
However, investigations by The New York Times revealed that no such individual "pool guy" was employed by the administration for the task [1]. Instead, the project was awarded to Barton Malow, a construction firm based in Michigan [1]. The renovation of the reflecting pool carried a cost of $30 million [1].
Following the initial comments, Trump said he did not know who the contractor was [1]. This contradicted his earlier suggestion that he had a specific person in mind for the job. The use of the term "pool guy" appeared to characterize a large-scale corporate contract as a personal service.
Jen Psaki said the administration was looking into the details of the reflecting-pool renovation [4]. The project remained a point of contention as reporters sought to reconcile the official contract records with the descriptions provided by the president during his visit to the National Mall.
“"I have a pool guy. He’s a great guy."”
This incident underscores the gap between the formal federal procurement process and the rhetorical style used by the executive branch to describe public works. By framing a $30 million corporate contract as the work of a 'pool guy,' the administration attempted to personalize a bureaucratic government function, while the factual record confirms the project followed standard industrial contracting via a Michigan-based firm.
