Contractor admits repair errors caused reflecting pool liner damage

The company that installed a new blue liner at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has admitted that its own mistakes caused the damage. Atlantic Industrial Coatings told the Trump administration that workers used two chemicals that should not be mixed together. This caused the liner to peel and break apart.

President Trump had blamed vandals with knives for the damage. The Justice Department charged several people with vandalism, but later dropped those charges.

Government documents reviewed by The New York Times confirm that the contractor accepted responsibility. The company said the damage happened because of human error during installation, not because of any attack. This directly contradicts what the Trump administration said publicly about the cause of the damage.