Trump drives across Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to inspect new blue coating he's putting on it

"President Donald Trump on Thursday went on an unannounced trip to the Lincoln Memorial to see the Reflecting Pool after he had it coated in a color he calls “American flag blue.” He did more than just see it - the Republican president was driven across the new coating before he got out of his SUV to make a statement and answer questions from reporters who had been taken there to await his arrival before the sun set."

"The new blue coating will hide the pool's gray stone, a color Trump said was “never good.” The project cost nearly $2 million, he said. “It never had the color people wanted, but now it's going to have the great color,” he said, standing in the pool surrounded by some of his Cabinet secretaries, including Doug Burgum of Interior and Markwayne Mullin of Homeland Security."

"Trump had similar feelings about the gray granite exterior of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House, describing it as a “really bad color” last year. The president wants to cover the building in white paint and two federal agencies are reviewing his proposal. Trump said he is also working on the memorial to President Abraham Lincoln itself, but he offered no specifics, saying only that “we have a beautiful plan” in mind."

"Work has been underway at the memorial for the past few years on an underground visitors' center scheduled to open in June. Trump last month announced the reflecting pool renovation during an unrelated Oval Office appearance. He said he was inspired by the complaints of a friend visiting from Germany, who he said told him the water in the pool was dark, filthy, and looked disgusting."

President Donald Trump made an unannounced trip to the Lincoln Memorial to view the Reflecting Pool after it was coated in “American flag blue.” He was driven across the newly coated surface before stepping out to make remarks and answer reporters’ questions. The coating is intended to hide the pool’s gray stone, which Trump said was “never good.” He said the project cost nearly $2 million. Trump also compared the gray granite exterior of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building to a “really bad color” and said he wants to cover it in white paint, with federal agencies reviewing the proposal. He said he is working on plans for the Lincoln memorial and referenced an underground visitors’ center scheduled to open in June.

Read at ABC7 Los Angeles