The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C., has turned green with algae just weeks after undergoing a major multi-million dollar renovation to give it an “Stars and Stripes Blue” glow.
On Friday, US President Donald Trump said on his Truth social platform that the site had been vandalized and suggested the damage was done by “far-left lunatics,” but said the algae bloom was being removed.
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“The vandalism of our beautiful reflecting pool has caused a serious problem,” President Trump said.
“The algae is 75% gone and conditions will soon fully recover. Fortunately, the destroyed area is only a small damaged area and will be repaired early next week.”
However, President Trump provided no evidence to support his claims of vandalism, including that someone poured corrosive chemicals into the pool.
Here’s what we know:
What happened to the pool?
Built in 1922, the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is located near the Lincoln Memorial, where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech in the nation’s capital in 1963.
The bottom of the pool was repainted in a color President Trump called “Stars and Stripes Blue,” and on June 6 he announced the completion of the $14.7 million renovation project.
But last week, the blue material at the bottom of the pool started peeling off and parts of it could be seen floating on top of the water, making the water lush with algae.
Since June 16, National Park Service workers have been injecting hydrogen peroxide into the pool to prevent algae growth.
An Interior Ministry spokesperson told Reuters the pools were treated with “high-tech nano-bubble ozone technology” that kills algae, pathogens such as E. coli, and other pollutants. The agency added that hydrogen peroxide, which is also used, is “a milder treatment than chlorine” used in swimming pools.
Why is President Trump alleging obstruction?
With the water in the reflecting pool turning visibly green, President Trump claimed on Friday that the place had been vandalized, writing on the Truth social platform, “Just like 3 days ago they destroyed the lawn outside the pool, they also did everything possible to damage the inside surfaces that had just been installed.”
On Saturday, he said National Park Police had “arrested multiple individuals for destroying our nation’s great reflecting poles,” later correcting the spelling to “pool.”
“Who would do something like that? These are very serious crimes related to the destruction of national monuments. Years in prison!” he continued.
One of the men arrested is David Hahn, 67, of Bethesda, Maryland, who owns a company that makes composite materials used in the construction of ships. He told The Associated Press that he stopped at the pool on Friday during a 103-kilometer (64-mile) bike trip just to see what was going on.
Hahn, a former Olympic canoe racer, said he touched the pool because he wanted to check for new coating that had flaked off. He said he briefly touched the lump that was still attached to the side of the pool, but quickly removed his hand when told to do so by park staff.
But Hahn said he was then held for five hours by the National Guard and park police before being released Friday night.
“I’m a curious citizen,” Hahn told The Associated Press. “I reached out to see what it felt like. It felt very rubbery.”
But President Trump said Friday that the incident was “no different than the chemicals used on the National Mall. They used the same chemicals on the reflecting pool to try to destroy and degrade our beautiful work.”
The US president was referring to the discovery the previous week of numerous numbers “86 47” carved into the discolored lawn of the National Mall. Authorities say the numbers may have been meant to threaten Trump, the 47th president. The number 86 is a slang term meaning “to remove.”
Investigation into this matter is ongoing.
But experts told US media that algae blooms in the water are common at this time of year.
Rosalina Stancheva Cristova, a professor of aquatic ecology at George Mason University in Virginia who took water samples from the pool for testing last Tuesday, told NPR on June 19 that the algae was “overgrown” but not toxic.
He said this type of green algae can be found throughout the region at this time of year, adding that reflecting ponds provide “excellent conditions” such as strong sunlight and shallow, stagnant water, which promote the growth of green algae.
She added that “disturbance of the pond during renovation is accelerating the process (of algae growth).”
How much did this project cost?
The $14.7 million contract to clean and paint the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was awarded to Atlantic Industrial Coatings, based in New Canton, Virginia, by the federal government on April 3 as a no-bid contract, according to the New York Times. Critics say it should have gone through a bidding process to secure the best price.
And on June 16, the New York Times reported that a Brookfield, Ohio, company called Green Water Services, which has ties to a longtime supporter of President Trump, also signed an at-will contract to install a water purification system at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in early spring. The company is currently under intense scrutiny due to algae in its pools.
The report added that the company is owned by the JJ Cafaro Investment Trust, headed by John J. Cafaro of Palm Beach, Florida, near President Trump’s private club, Mar-a-Lago.
It is unclear why the contracts were awarded to these companies without going through a bidding process, but a White House spokesperson told the New York Times last week that the president was not involved in the selection of Green Water Services.
Cafaro told the Ohio newspaper The Vindicator that the contract for the reflecting pool was awarded without a bidding process because “no other company in the world is doing what we are doing.”
He added, “I am not officially part of the company (Greenwater Services). They all work for me, but they have their own CEO and COO. There are too many different organizations for me to keep track of. That’s what lawyers and accountants are for.”
What other vanity projects has President Trump commissioned, and who is paying for them?
Since taking office for his second term, President Trump has announced ambitious projects to renovate Washington, D.C.’s monuments and the White House.
white house banquet hall
The renovation of the White House Ballroom is one such project. The president said last year that he and wealthy donors would pay for the estimated $400 million project, but later asked Congress to provide $1 billion in tax dollars to shore up its security. Senate Republicans said no, looking ahead to the midterm elections this November.
Construction of the project, which began last year, has so far been funded by private donors, corporations and tech companies such as Google and Amazon.
Last October, President Trump wrote on Truth Social: “For more than 150 years, every president has dreamed of having a ballroom in the White House that could accommodate people for lavish parties and state visits. I am honored to be the first president to finally bring this much-needed project to fruition at zero cost to American taxpayers!”
Trump also said the building will have 4-inch-thick windows and a drone protection base on the roof that will “protect all of Washington.” It will be expanded to six floors underground and will also include a military bunker.
Construction work on the ballroom, which can seat 1,000 people, has faced significant public opposition. Preservationists and opponents say Trump exceeded his authority by demolishing the historic east wing, which housed the first lady’s office and the White House movie theater, to make way for a new ballroom.
“Ark de Trump”
President Trump also plans to build an “Arch of Independence” across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial, which he says he wants to be larger than the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
U.S. taxpayers will fund the construction, according to a spending plan released in April by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The arch, which is topped by an eagle and a statue resembling the Statue of Liberty, is estimated to be 76 meters (250 feet) tall to commemorate the 250th anniversary of American independence. It is taller than the Lincoln Memorial and not far from the size of the 88-meter (288-foot) U.S. Capitol, which can be seen in much of Washington.
In contrast, the Arc de Triomphe in Paris is 50 meters (164 feet) high.
“When completed, it will without a doubt be the greatest of all arches,” President Trump wrote in a social media post on June 4.
