President Donald Trump announced plans Thursday to construct a new promenade extending from the Lincoln Memorial toward the Potomac River, adding to a series of recent construction projects affecting federal landmarks in D.C.
The project is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to reshape the National Mall and surrounding monuments through new construction and restoration initiatives. Trump administration officials said Thursday the proposed promenade is intended to create continuous pedestrian access between the Lincoln Memorial and the Potomac River by building footbridges over Parkway Drive and Ohio Drive, the roads separating the Lincoln Memorial from the riverbank.
“It’s gonna be beautiful, it’s a beautiful project,” Trump said in the Oval Office Thursday. “And it’s gonna take the Lincoln Memorial right down to the Potomac.”
Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, who was with Trump during the announcement, said the changes would connect existing roads and walkways to allow visitors to move from the memorial to the river, but provided no timeline on when construction will begin.
“You’re on the Mall, people come from around the world, they don’t know that 100 yards away is the beautiful Potomac River, which was part of the original plan,” Burgum said. “Now they’d be able to walk around the Lincoln Memorial, walk on a pedestrian bridge over the first highway, walk over the next one and right down to the water.”
Burgum and Trump said the projects align with the McMillan Plan of 1902, a federally commissioned design plan developed by the Senate Park Commission that established a long-term design framework for the National Mall and surrounding public spaces in the District. They said the proposed promenade and related pedestrian access improvements would reflect that original plan’s vision for connecting major monuments with coordinated public walkways and open spaces.
Along with the promenade project, the Trump administration has outlined other planned work on and around the National Mall as part of broader construction and renovation efforts, including a proposed 250-foot arch near Arlington National Cemetery across the Potomac River.
Workers also began refilling the Reflecting Pool with water Thursday after several weeks of closure for modifications and repairs that included draining the basin, repainting the interior surface and maintenance to structural and water circulation systems. The repainting involved applying what the Trump administration described as an “American flag blue” coating intended to improve the pool’s visual appearance.
The project has drawn criticism from preservation groups, and a nonprofit has filed a lawsuit arguing the repainting and related work were completed without required historic preservation review and alter the pool’s original design as a reflective surface. At the same time, federal records show the cost of the project has risen from an initial estimate of about $1.8 million, cited by President Trump, to roughly $13.1 million after the Interior Department increased the contract’s value by about $6.2 million late last week.
The Lincoln Memorial is also undergoing a separate renovation project that is converting the space beneath the monument into a museum, theater and retail area. The work began prior to the Trump administration’s second term and is now nearing completion with officials preparing for a planned reopening in July after three years of construction on the monument.
