Donald Trump’s heavily promoted renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has backfired spectacularly, with the water turning bright green just weeks after the president painted it “American flag blue.” The $20 million project, touted as a centrepiece of America’s 250th birthday celebrations, has been overrun by algae.
The National Park Service was spotted this weekend vacuuming lumps of algae from the still water. The government insisted the advanced nanobubbler technology installed as part of the refurbishment was working, blaming the bloom on a dormant eight-week period during construction. “The algae is dead and being vacuumed up as we speak,” a spokesperson said, adding: “We thank President Trump for fixing the Reflecting Pool for good.”
“Trump's $20m reflecting pool turns green with algae days after renovation, sparking blame game”
But in a bitter twist, the Trump administration also pointed fingers at Barack Obama. A Department of the Interior spokesperson told the New York Post: “The nanobubbler technology has successfully destroyed the algae bloom that has plagued every pool reopening since 1922, most infamously, the Obama pool reopening that resulted in massive algae clumps taking over the pool’s surface.” They claimed the National Park Service was “actually maintaining” the pool “versus previous administrations.”
Communications Director Katie Martin told CNN the algae’s return was “part of the normal start-up process.” The administration spent $1.7 million on an upgraded ozone nanobubbler filtration system to disrupt the algae’s food supply. By contrast, Obama’s two-year renovation cost at least $34 million and ended in 2012, addressing leaks and stagnant water. Trump’s project aimed to fix leaks that saw 16 million gallons of water lost each year, according to the Interior Department.
The pool’s woes come as Trump pushes a series of ostentatious projects for July 4, including an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on the White House lawn, $1 coins bearing his face (in violation of an 1866 law), and a 250ft “Independence Arch” nicknamed the “Arc de Trump.” There are also plans to turn the National Mall into a race track. “On July 4th, at The Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, promising a “tribute to America.” But for now, the reflecting pool – meant to be a symbol of national pride – is a murky green, with ducks swimming through the algae as workers scramble to clean it up.