As D.C. began to feel its first hints of summer heat this weekend, people flocked to Malcolm X Park to watch water flow from the fountain that had sat dry for seven years. Toddlers splashed in the reflecting pool, dogs lapped at the water, and sunbathers listened to the cascade from the fountain’s 13 basins.
The National Park Service reopened the park’s lower plaza on May 14, filling the Italianate cascading fountain and reflecting pool with water for the first time since 2019. The $16 million renovation to the park is part of a larger effort by the Trump administration to repair nine long-defunct D.C. fountains ahead of America’s 250th anniversary celebration this summer. It also plans to update nine other fountains across the city.
The restoration has brought with it the usual political debate over the federal management and control of D.C. The repairs are certainly a win for President Donald Trump, as a White House press release Tuesday declared the fountain “an emblem of rebirth” that symbolizes “rekindling national pride” and “a rejection of mediocrity.” D.C. residents, who overwhelmingly voted against Trump, have had to begrudgingly admit that in a city where nearly 90 percent of park land is owned by the federal government, the Trump administration holds the key to whether community hubs like Malcolm X Park or Dupont Circle have a working fountain.
Those mixed feelings were evident when I interviewed residents there Tuesday morning, many of whom took issue with Trump’s characterization of the city as marred by crime and crumbling infrastructure.
“It’s not because he loves D.C. people, it’s because he wants to show off,” said Florence Navarro, 60, referring to the president. “But thank you.”
The fountain is likely one of the few times Trump’s actions could gain support from Ward 1 residents, only 5 percent of whom voted for Trump in the 2024 presidential election. They can’t even agree on what to call the park: Park Service uses the official name, Meridian Hill Park, while locals often refer to it as Malcolm X Park as a nod to the park’s history as a hub for Black activism.
The repairs also mark a win for Mayor Muriel Bowser’s controversial appeasement of Trump in his second term. Lindsey Appiah, deputy mayor for public safety, told me she spoke directly with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum about the fountain repairs.
“We cannot avoid a relationship with the federal government,” Appiah said. “It is our responsibility no matter whoever is in the White House or Congress to continue to advocate for the issues that matter to D.C. residents, and D.C. residents love parks.”
The politics behind the restoration
Before Trump even took office for a second term, Bowser had homed in on parks as an area for collaboration with the incoming president, who had been openly hostile toward the District on the campaign trail.
While Bowser acted as a prominent figure in the Democratic resistance in Trump’s first term, she kicked off his second term on a much different note, heading to Mar-A-Lago to meet with Trump a month before he officially took office. In that initial meeting, according to a statement, Bowser singled out parks.
A few months later, when Trump launched the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force, she wrote a letter to the task force director urging him to start with the federal parks. In the letter, Bowser tried to strike a delicate balance, defending a policy prohibiting D.C. police from asking about immigration status but emphasizing a shared interest in beautifying the city and attaching a list of federally-operated fountains in need of repair.
At times, Bowser’s more compromising approach came under fire, such as her removal of Black Lives Matter Plaza amid threats of federal funding cuts, or when some residents urged her to take a harsher stance against ICE during the 30-day takeover of D.C. police.
Appiah, who oversees the D.C. government’s work with the task force, said navigating a relationship with the federal government can be complex, so it’s important to lean into the things everyone can agree on – like fountains.
"We agree [D.C.] should be the most beautiful capital city in the world,” Appiah said.
She took a walk to see the functioning fountain this weekend, and said it was so crowded that it felt like people were making "pilgrimages" from around the District to see for themselves. “This weekend there was much rejoicing in Ward 1.”
Beautiful… but
At the fountain Tuesday, everyone appeared to be in awe.
Navarro and her husband, Steven Doll, perched on one of the park’s pebbled walls, taking in the restoration of a park they loved both for its role in the District’s history and in theirs as a couple. It’s where, sixteen years ago, they had come to celebrate their engagement and take wedding photos.
“This place is special for us,” Navarro said. “It feels so peaceful to be here in the shade, listening to the sound of the water, it’s just magical.”
Kaleen Fowler, 21, said she had been living nearby for four years but never imagined how beautiful the fountain could be, and compared it to something from Italy. Sisters Maggie and Erin Salva, 26 and 24, marveled over how clear, clean and refreshing the water looked. And Doll, 59, reminisced on how the fountain and park have acted as an “anchor” for the community for so long.
Many also voiced complicated feelings about Trump’s focus on beautifying D.C., some feeling that there were more pressing matters for the commander-in-chief to tackle. Others thought Trump was actually the perfect person for the job because they felt if a Democrat tried to make the same improvements in D.C., they would be accused of prioritizing the Washington elite.
“It’s like two sides of the same coin because obviously there’s other stuff the president could be doing. But it’s still really nice,” Fowler said.
When asked earlier this week about the reactions to the restoration of the fountain, Trump said people were only upset because it was him who ordered the repairs. “It’s a sad thing,” he said.
What took so long.. and what’s next
The fountain had not been in operatation since 2019, during Trump’s first term. The Park Service turned the fountain off for repairs to the lower plaza, but in the process discovered several critical parts of the fountain, including the pump, needed to be replaced and extensive concrete work would be necessary.
At the beginning of this year, the Park Service announced plans to repair and update 18 fountains around D.C. in preparation for America 250 celebrations. A Park Service spokesperson told me that repair work on the Meridian Hill Park fountain began in late December and was completed on time in about 20 weeks. The repairs to the park’s water features took up the bulk of the $16 million dedicated to renovating the park, the spokesperson said. Repairs to the upper plaza like new grass, benches and lights are expected to be completed by the end of the summer.
