POTUS Trump spent $13.1 million, later bumped to $14.6 million, to repaint the bottom of the Reflecting Pool "American Flag Blue" in time for the Fourth of July.
Less than a week later, the renovated pool was a dark green from algae growth instead. Naturally, the Interior Department's official position is that this is actually winning, a spokesperson insisted the algae visible to the naked eye is "dead" and "being vacuumed up as we speak," and went out of their way to add: "We thank President Trump for fixing the Reflecting Pool for good." Nothing inspires confidence in a fix quite like thanking someone for it while the live cameras catch ducks paddling through pea soup. NBC News + 3
The official explanation is that this is just leftover algae from supply lines that sat dormant for eight weeks during construction, all part of a totally normal startup process. Sure, "residual" algae, like how a "residual" grease fire is just the kitchen settling in. Benzinga
The hydrogen peroxide detail is real: crews have brought in cleaning systems to combat the algae growth along the edge of the pool just days after the repaint. So to your question, should he save the peroxide and mix it with baking soda? Honestly, at this point a volcano-science-fair reenactment might generate the same level of public confidence as the current plan, plus it'd at least look intentional. Yahoo!
The kicker, historically speaking: this isn't even algae's first rodeo here. Back in 2012, the pool got a two-year, $34 million renovation specifically to fix reflectivity and water quality, and within weeks it was covered in a thick layer of green algae that workers had to net out by hand while officials cranked up the ozone. So really, "Reflecting Pool: Mission Accomplished, Algae Edition" is a bipartisan tradition at this point, the pool has been quietly beating administrations of both parties since 1922, and it shows no sign of conceding. NBC News CBS News
The Reflecting Pool's hottest new color, "American Flag Blue," lasted about as long as a gym membership resolution. Painted Monday. Pea soup by the weekend.
The pool took one look at the $14.6 million paint job and said "cute, anyway" and went back to its natural color: swamp. The Interior Department's spin is the real comedy gold here. They're not calling it algae, they're calling it dead algae, which is somehow supposed to be reassuring, like telling someone "don't worry, that's not a rat infestation, those are just rat corpses, very normal, very expected."
A spokesperson actually thanked Trump for "fixing the Reflecting Pool for good" while it was visibly green on live television. That's not a press release, that's a hostage video. The "residual algae from supply lines that sat dormant for eight weeks" excuse is doing a lot of heavy lifting. Eight weeks of dormant pipes apparently breeds enough algae to recolor a 7-acre pool, which either means D.C. tap water is secretly a primordial soup, or someone forgot Algae 101: it doesn't need an invitation, it needs sunlight and a Tuesday. And now the hydrogen peroxide brigade has arrived, dumping bleach-adjacent chemicals into a national monument like it's a community pool with a teenage lifeguard problem.
Baking soda and vinegar volcano next, presumably, for the full "middle school science fair" presidential aesthetic. Best part: this isn't even algae's first kill. It beat a $34 million renovation back in 2012 too. The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has now outlasted Obama's fix, Biden's tenure, and Trump's flag-blue paint job. At this point Honest Abe himself is just sitting there in marble thinking "I freed the slaves and this pool still won't listen to anybody."