A Tennessee Republican had an unusual suggestion for President Donald Trump’s algae problem in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool — let it grow.
“It’s just gonna happen,” Representative Tim Burchett said of the algae growth when talking to independent journalist Pablo Manríquez in a video shared by the MeidasTouch Network on Tuesday.
“I think it would be cool if they just let it go and create an ecosystem. Have fish in there and everything.”
Just days after Trump’s multi-million-dollar renovation of the Reflecting Pool was completed earlier this month with a coat of what he called American flag blue paint and refilled with water, algae turned the basin green.
As Trump was ridiculed for the project taking an unexpected turn, in color and smell, his administration dumped bottles of hydrogen peroxide into the pool and vacuumed up the dead algae.
The problem with Burchett’s idea to create a mucky ecosystem in the pool is that the basin was designed specifically to reflect D.C.’s most prized landmarks.
“When the architect Henry Bacon designed the Reflecting Pool, he envisioned it as a quiet, mirror-like surface that would reflect the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument and the surrounding sky,” The New York Times wrote in an article published late last month.
As algae bloomed and blue paint chipped away at the Reflecting Pool, Trump blamed vandals for the botched renovation project that cost more than $14 million, according to reports.
“Of the MANY Statues and Fountains that we rebuilt, renovated, cleaned, and fixed, the only one that was Vandalized was the Reflecting Pool, which is being taken care of, ASAP!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday.
The administration announced that there had been several arrests made over the alleged vandalism.
But government documents recently obtained by The New York Times suggested the deterioration of the Reflecting Pool was already underway.
Federal workers noticed chunks of blue sealant on the bottom of the basin were peeling and floating to the surface, the documents showed.
The workers also discovered that some algae-killing devices for the pool were not working properly, according to the documents.
Trump had said the pool would likely have to be drained for repairs. But by Wednesday, the water in the basin had noticeably turned more blue.
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