Pool owners weigh in on what went wrong as Reflecting Pool turns green days after $14m Trump paint job

Environment
16 Jun 2026 • 10:56 PM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

Pool owners weigh in on what went wrong as Reflecting Pool turns green days after $14m Trump paint job

The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has turned green just days after its $14m (£10m) renovation project was completed.

The six-week long project saw the pool drained before having its resurface repainted in an “American flag blue”, as per the wishes of Donald Trump.

However, algae bloom has already returned to the pool, which has a history of forming quickly in the shallow reflecting body of water.

Pool owner Patrick Hicks, who was visiting from Florida on vacation, said: “It's probably never going to go away, regardless of who's president and who's pushing for it,” adding that eliminating it is "an impossible task”.

In a statement the Department of Interior said: “The algae is dead and being vacuumed up as we speak. We thank President Trump for fixing the Reflecting Pool for good.”

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