Donald Trump ’s latest beautification plan for Washington DC – the restoration of the 2,000ft-long reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial – has met been with claims that a $6.9m contract to carry out the project was hastily handed out to a company that renovated a swimming pool at the president’s Virginia golf course.

The New York Times reported that the no-bid contract for the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool was given to Atlantic Industrial Coatings , based in New Canton, Virginia, on 3 April – despite company records’ showing it has not previously been awarded a federal contract.

One of the company’s owners, Curtis Wood, declined to comment on the contract to the Times.

Maintaining clarity in the pool for it to reflect has been a problem since it was constructed in 1922. It is between 18in and 30in deep, holds about 6.75m gallons of water and has no natural flow.…