The Contractor Can't Do the One Thing It Was Hired to Do

Atlantic Industrial Coatings — the Virginia-based firm that landed a no-bid $13.1 million contract to fix the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool — has now failed twice in attempts to seal the gaps between the pool's concrete floor slabs, according to internal federal documents obtained by the New York Times. Those gap seals are the entire point of the project. Water has been leaking through those cracks for decades.

Two trial runs earlier this month. Both failed. The company and the Park Service are now reportedly brainstorming alternative approaches.

The Numbers Are Getting Worse

A National Park Service contracting specialist's internal analysis puts hard numbers on how inflated the contract actually is.

Typical federal construction contracts carry a profit margin of 6 to 12 percent, according to the Park Service analysis. Atlantic Industrial Coatings submitted a bid at 20 percent — nearly double the high end of normal. The Park Service accepted it anyway, reasoning that the company deserved the premium for taking a rushed, difficult job.

That 20 percent margin added at least $850,000 to the contract price compared to a standard deal, the analysis found.

Overhead tells the same story. Atlantic charged 20 percent overhead. Similar contracts run 10 to 15 percent.

The Park Service contracting specialist flagged both figures as inflated. Management accepted the bid regardless.

$67 Million in Park Fees Diverted to D.C.

A New York Times analysis of federal contracting records found that the National Park Service is spending at least $67 million in visitor entrance fees on Trump's Washington D.C. beautification projects.

$60 million of that is going toward repairs on nine ornamental fountains across the capital. Another $7 million in entrance fees is funding the Reflecting Pool renovation — a figure that had not been previously disclosed.

People paid those fees to visit Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, the Smokies. The money is going to fix decorative fountains in D.C. in time for July 4th celebrations.

Cut the Parks, Beautify the Capital

The Trump administration's proposed 2027 budget would cut National Park Service operations funding by more than 25 percent — a reduction of approximately $736 million, according to the National Parks Conservation Association as reported by Outdoor Life.

At the same time, the Interior Department handed a $17.4 million no-bid contract to Clark Construction to restore two fountains in Lafayette Square. A 2022 construction estimate for the same project pegged costs at $3.3 million. Interior officials attributed the $14 million gap to inflation and timeline pressure, and claimed Clark was one of the only firms qualified for the work.

For context: Clark Construction is also the company hired to build the $400 million White House ballroom project.

Kristen Brengel, a national park policy expert at the National Parks Conservation Association whose office overlooks the recently repaired fountains, told Outdoor Life: "It's more about vanity than protecting park resources."

House Democrats announced a bill to block construction of what's being called "Trump's arch" — another D.C. beautification project — but that bill has essentially zero path through a Republican-controlled Congress.

The Contracting Pattern

This isn't a uniquely Trump problem in structure — it's a government contracting problem that has existed for decades. No-bid contracts, inflated margins, and rushed timelines have burned taxpayers under every administration. The specific dollar amounts and the diversion of park entrance fees are new and newsworthy. The pattern is not.

What Happened

Taxpayers and park visitors are being asked to pay $13.1 million — seven times Trump's original stated cost — for a contractor that has already failed at the most critical part of the job. That same contractor is charging a profit margin that the Park Service's own specialists called inflated. And $67 million in entrance fees paid by Americans visiting actual national parks are being redirected to fix D.C. fountains and a reflecting pool.

The parks those fees were collected from are facing budget cuts.

A no-bid contract, an inflated margin, a failing contractor, and diverted park funds are bad policy regardless of who's in the White House.

The July 4th deadline is driving decisions that are costing taxpayers real money and producing results that don't work.