National Park Service employees and contractors were seen removing green algae from the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Thursday, as the Trump administration compared the battle to its conflict with Iran.
Algae Battle Escalates
After President Donald Trump ordered a $14.2 million refurbishment to turn the monument "American Flag blue" in time for the 250th birthday celebrations, the administration encountered a formidable foe: algae. For days, the pool has fluctuated between shades of green, frustrating efforts to achieve the president's preferred color. By Thursday, parts of the coating applied by Atlantic Industrial Coatings had begun to peel off.
Workers in waders were seen attempting to fish out algae and eliminate patches of deep green across the pool.
Interior Department Claims Victory
Hours earlier, the US Department of the Interior, which oversees the National Park Service, claimed the water was "crystal clear" and blamed the "Fake News Media" for reports to the contrary. In a statement on X, the department likened the administration's purported victory against algae to its purported victory against Iran.
"The Reflecting Pool water is crystal clear, and our National Park Service team is now vacuuming up the dead algae resting on the bottom of some parts of the Reflecting Pool – just like the destroyed Iranian Navy resting on the bottom of the Persian Gulf," the department's press office said.
Peeling Paint and Unfulfilled Promises
Blue paint was seen peeling off the bottom of the reflecting pool on June 18. Both campaigns – the pool renovation and the Iran conflict – have so far failed to match Trump's stated intentions. At the outset of the US-Israel war on Iran, he vowed to eliminate Iran's nuclear program and destroy its ballistic missile program. A peace deal signed on Wednesday left the US president with Iran's word not to build a bomb and no mention of the ballistic missile program.
Historical Significance
The reflecting pool, one of Washington DC's most historically symbolic attractions and the scene of Martin Luther King's 1963 "I have a dream" speech, has been part of Trump's efforts to recondition Washington during his second term. A no-bid contract to waterproof and repaint the site, which dates back over a century, was awarded to Virginia-based Atlantic Industrial Coatings, which had previously worked on a swimming pool at one of the president's golf clubs.
Ongoing Issues
The administration initially claimed that "residual" algae would be cleared immediately after renovation, but it has proliferated amid warm weather. It later suggested installing a water treatment system described as "nanobubbler technology," which the interior department claimed had "very effectively killed the algae."
