The Trump administration will not seek new bids to repair the Lincoln Reflecting Pool, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said this past weekend, as he faced questions about the project and the taxpayer money that went into it. 

Burgum, speaking to CNN’s “State of the Union” said Sunday that he was “100% sure” that vandals had caused the damage to the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall, with multiple cuts that added up to a 350-foot gash into the pool’s liner following the renovations. 

He said that the pool might not require complete draining in the coming week and said that they would not seek new contractors.

“We’ll use the same company, because they did a fantastic job,” Burgum told CNN. 

Green Water Solutions, based in Ohio, was originally given a $1.7 million non-bid contract to install a water-purification system in the Reflecting Pool, while Atlantic Industrial Coatings, based in Virginia, awarded $14.7 million to repaint and waterproof the pool’s floor. 

“Thankfully, the vandalism was small. It was bad. I mean, it could cost tens of thousands of dollars to repair, so then it could fall into a felony ... just like damaging any other government property could. But the job that was done to fix the Reflecting Pool was done extremely well,” he said. 

Trump also posted photos on Truth Social on Sunday which showed the pool and the reflection of the Washington Monument that appeared clear and blue. 

He shared the Interior Department’s statement from June which said that “the advanced nanobubbler technology very effectively killed the algae that has plagued every Lincoln Reflecting Pool reopening – most infamously Obama’s reopening – since 1922.”

He also put out a ‘wanted’ callout by the United States Park Police to identify vandals, which said, “The U.S. Park Police is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying the individual in the notice below in connection with a Destruction of Government Property investigation related to the Reflecting Pool.” 

“From Greg Wischer at the United States Department of the Interior: “Latest Law Enforcement numbers from the Reflecting Pool: 7 arrests, 7 additional people issued Federal citations, 19 incidents/reports filed. Here is the Reflecting Pool tonight!” Trump also wrote on Truth Social on Monday. 

Last week, authorities arrested former Olympian David Hearn for alleged pool vandalism. He was indicted on a felony of property destruction. 

Trump pledged to beautify the Reflecting Pool in spring ahead of the nation’s 250th birthday celebrations on July Fourth. 

The water was drained, and the bottom coated in a color that Trump called “American flag blue.” A week after the restoration project, the water showed algae blooms, with pieces of the new blue appearing to peel off the bottom. 

Since then, the pool has also become a flashpoint for Trump critics, with Burgum discussing both verbal and physical attacks on the pool on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. The pool was fenced off and closed for Independence Day, which Burgum said was due to safety reasons with fireworks. 

While Trump critics are pointing to the added costs of the Reflecting Pool repairs, Burgum pointed to the vandalism that caused it, telling ABC, “We weren’t expecting that we were going to have a small group of people that wanted to try to destroy effectively what is part of the Lincoln Memorial.”