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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDC reflecting pool before-and-after photos show Trump's 'beautiful' renovation [turned black]
Source: The Guardian/US
President steered no-bid contract for project that went from $1.8m to $14.2m to company that worked on his golf resort.
The final drops of water have been added, and the nanobubbler switched on. Donald Trumps beautiful makeover of the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, one of Washington DCs most historically symbolic attractions, is officially complete, and the public is getting its first glimpse of how the projects $14.2m was spent.
Contrary to the presidents predictable assertion that it was receiving rave reviews, however, early impressions are decidedly mixed. Some of the first visitors declared themselves underwhelmed by the 2,000ft pools somewhat dull color American flag blue, according to the specifications.
A combination of satellite images created of the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool on the National Mall in Washington, DC, on 10 June 2023 (left) and on 7 June 2026 (right).
Others were bemused to see workers scraping algae from the bottom on Wednesday, just days after it had been filled with about 6.75m gallons of fresh water following the completion of renovation works.
What you are seeing is residual algae from the supply lines, which have been sitting dormant for eight weeks while construction has been taking place, Katie Martin, a spokesperson for the US Department of the Interior, told CNN, insisting the algae was part of the normal startup process.
She cited the National Park Service, which is responsible for maintaining the 104-year-old pool, purchasing a state of the art nanobubbler filtration system that would keep algae at bay.
Barack Obama and Joe Biden were guilty of making failed and extremely costly attempts at refurbishments, she said, regurgitating long-debunked allegations. President Donald J Trump is an expert builder who has fixed the Reflecting Pool for good, said Martin.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/11/washington-dc-reflecting-pool
Go to the link to see pictures of before and after. It now looks black!
And of course corruption is involved in the NO BID job that was raised by millions.
lame54
(40,360 posts)Girard442
(6,948 posts)It is also full of algae again already, because they didn't what the Biden Administration's expert said to fix, and earmarked money for.
LetMyPeopleVote
(183,554 posts)trump is not a good builder and ruined the reflecting pond. trump's attempts to fix the pond are really funny
Workers were spotted dumping hydrogen peroxide by the gallon into the Reflecting Pool days after President Donald Trump's .2 million renovation turned it green.
— Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2026-06-16T14:00:26Z
https://www.rawstory.com/reflecting-pool-hydrogen-peroxide/
CBS News journalist Bob Kovach was on the ground at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool Tuesday morning. He posted a video of gallon jugs labeled "hydrogen peroxide" lined up at the water's edge, with workers kneeling beside them and pouring the chemical straight in. The pool, which Trump had painted "American flag blue" and refilled just 12 days ago, has since turned a mossy green.
Anonymous, an X account with 7.5 million followers, posted its own video of the scene. "'They're literally dumping hydrogen peroxide into the reflecting pool this morning,'" the account wrote.....
"'Y'all, not to be a huge nerd but for the reflecting pool you would need a minimum of about 8,000 liters of 12% hydrogen peroxide to reach the 50 parts per million concentration to kill algae,'" Dr. Michael O'Brien, a South Carolina pediatrician, wrote on X. "Is this what happens when you have 0 scientists in your administration?"
"'They are now pouring bottles of hydrogen peroxide into the ultra-green algae-filled Reflecting Pool that Trump wasted $10m of our money on,'" commentator Brian Krassenstein piled on.