Trump's Lincoln Memorial pool turns green after $16.4M vanity project backfires

Donald Trump's plan to dye the Lincoln Reflecting Pool "American Flag Blue" ahead of America's 250th anniversary on July 4 has backfired spectacularly, leaving the landmark with a pungent, bright green algal bloom instead.

Ongoing Cleanup Efforts

National Parks employees have been unable to fully remove the algae that appeared after Trump's ill-fated paint job, despite using vacuums, hydrogen peroxide, and nanobubbles. The next step involves draining the now-swampy basin for the second time this month and restoring the blue sealant, which has been floating to the surface in unsightly chunks.

According to The Washington Post, Washington D.C.'s Department of Energy and the Environment is investigating the deaths of multiple ducks found in the pool's waters.

A Costly Vanity Project

The $16.4 million project included a $1.7 million no-bid contract awarded to Greenwater Services, a firm owned by Trump loyalist John J. Cafaro, who is already embroiled in scandal. On June 15, workers reported that one or two of the four algae-killing machines used by Greenwater were not functioning at any given time.

Trump has—without evidence—blamed the algae on "vandals," alleging that anonymous hoodlums sabotaged the pool with knives and fertilizer. This claim does not appear to be true, according to The New York Times.

Security Measures and Arrests

As of June 24, the Parks Police, National Guard, and U.S. Marshals have been patrolling the site. Six arrests have been made as of Tuesday. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt claimed—also without evidence—that those detained included "longtime donors to the Democrat Party, to Barack Obama, to ActBlue."

Newly installed fencing around the pool is intended to deter what Interior Department spokeswoman Katie Martin called an "increase in vandalism by leftist activists."

The Science of Algal Blooms

Marine biologist Gregory Dick, director of the Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research (CIGLR)—a partnership between the University of Michigan and NOAA—explained that algal blooms are "a growing problem."

"They're becoming more frequent as water pollution becomes more of an issue, and they grow more in warming conditions," Dick said. "The Reflecting Pool is not an exception."

Experts suspect the Reflecting Pool bloom began as cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, which thrive on abundant nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen, warm temperatures, and calm waters. "The Reflecting Pool has those three ingredients," Dick noted.

While the bloom has not been officially designated as harmful, cyanobacteria produce a toxin called microcystin that can fatally poison animals and cause nausea, vomiting, and skin rashes in humans. A 2014 microcystin outbreak in Lake Erie left nearly half a million people in the Toledo area without running water for three days.

Contradictory Government Actions

The government's aggressive response to the Reflecting Pool algae contrasts with its repeated attempts to defund experts who protect the public against harmful algal blooms. The Trump administration's cuts to research funding and federal agencies like NOAA have already undermined the federal government's role in monitoring and responding to such blooms. Deeper cuts proposed in next year's federal budget would further lower public defenses as climate change helps blooms proliferate.

Conclusion

As one observer noted, Trump pledged to drain the metaphorical swamp. Instead, he has created one.