The newly refurbished Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, now contaminated with green algae, was seen from the Washington Memorial on the National Mall on June 17, 2026, in Washington. President Donald Trump pushed for renovations to the pool so it would be American flag blue for the country's 250th birthday celebration this summer. Instead, it turned algae bloom green.
Costly Renovation
This is one of several expensive beautification and construction projects Trump has undertaken since reassuming office, including his $600 million ballroom. The Obama administration also spent millions trying to fix the 2,000-foot-long pool, which sits between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. Trump claimed his renovation would be both cheaper and better. It was cheaper, but the latter has yet to be proven true.
“There’ll be no leaks. There’ll be no anything. It’ll look gorgeous, beautiful,” Trump said in April about the project, which he claimed would cost between $1.5 million and $2 million. “It will look far more beautiful, more beautiful than it did in 1922 when they built it.” However, the renovations, completed by a company that has worked on Trump’s golf courses, wrapped up earlier this month and ended up costing more than $14 million.
Algae Outbreak
Onlookers initially seemed unimpressed by the costly renovation, saying the pool didn’t look much different from weeks earlier, NPR reported. The algae almost immediately reappeared and has since worsened, making the pool reminiscent of the Chicago River when dyed green for St. Patrick’s Day. A Department of the Interior spokesperson previously told CNN the algae outbreak is from “residual algae from the supply lines, which have been sitting dormant for eight weeks.”
On Wednesday, an Interior Department spokesperson told HuffPost that the National Park Service is using “high-tech nanobubble ozone technology” to kill algae, pathogens, and contaminants “that have long plagued the Reflecting Pool since 1922.” They are also using hydrogen peroxide to help fix the issue. “There are no harmful side effects to marine life or to the environment,” the spokesperson added. The spokesperson did not say when the algae would be gone.
Visual Evidence
Take a look at the green, algae-infested Reflecting Pool below. A duck swims past workers as they remove algae from the green-tinted Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington on June 17, 2026. Green algae surrounds hoses connected to pumps at the Reflecting Pool. Green water is pumped out of the Reflecting Pool on June 17, 2026. In a more than $14 million attempt, the president had tried to paint the historical landmark blue. A white chemical is pumped into the Reflecting Pool as workers attempt to clean it before America's 250th birthday. People walk along the visibly green water at the Reflecting Pool on June 17, 2026. Various algae-filtering equipment is parked beside the Reflecting Pool. A duck swims through the Reflecting Pool's green, algae-rich waters on June 16, 2026. Ducks swim through the algae in front of the Lincoln Memorial on June 16, 2026.
