Politics Washington D.C .Viral May 8, 2026 · 3 min read

The president personally picked the new color (“American Flag Blue”), personally inspected the work, and personally drove The Beast across one of America’s most iconic landmarks to do it. It’s very on-brand.

There are normal ways to inspect a renovation project. You walk the site, maybe wear a hard hat, shake some hands. And then there’s the Trump way: drain a 2,400-foot national landmark, load up the presidential motorcade, and drive straight through it with your Cabinet in tow.

That’s exactly what happened Thursday evening at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, and yes — the footage is exactly as wild as it sounds.

“It never had the color people wanted. But now it’s going to have a great color — it’s going to last a long time, and you’ll have no leak. Guaranteed.”— President Trump, standing on the floor of the drained pool, May 7

Trump arrived at the National Mall with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, and Border Czar Tom Homan — all riding through the empty pool basin to inspect the new industrial-strength sealant being applied to the bottom. The color Trump personally chose? “American Flag Blue.” He said it himself, proudly.

After the motorcade tour, Trump climbed out of The Beast and held an impromptu press conference on the pool floor for about 30 minutes — taking questions, touting the project, and doing what he does best: making the story bigger than the story.