The reflecting pool's water was murky on 19/6, resembling a swamp, as workers removed peeling blue paint chips from its bottom. Green algae also reappeared after the pool was refilled in recent days.
The pool is designed to reflect the Washington monument on the National Mall, near the Lincoln memorial. However, president Donald Trump repeatedly complained about the brown algae at the bottom, calling it "disgusting" and "a disgrace to the country".
In April, Trump ordered the pool cleaned and its bottom painted blue, "like the color on the American flag", before the independence day on 4/7.
The pool's renovation project proceeded at a cost of approximately $14 million. This was alongside other initiatives Trump is promoting for a second term, such as building a ballroom at the White House and a giant dome by the Potomac river. The pool was drained, cleaned of algae, and repainted.
 |
A visitor retrieves a piece of peeling paint from the bottom of the reflecting pool in Washington D.C., US, on 19/6. *Photo: AFP* |
However, widespread paint peeling and a rapid reappearance of algae occurred across the 610-meter-long pool just two weeks after the project's completion.
Someone carved "Trump" into the patchy blue paint at the bottom of the pool. President Trump attributed the peeling paint in the newly renovated pool to "vandalism".
"The algae is 75% clean, and this situation will be fully resolved soon. Fortunately, the vandalized area sustained only minor damage and will be repaired early next week," Trump wrote on Truth Social on 19/6, noting that authorities are investigating the incident.
Steve Goodale, a Canadian pool expert, explained that the rapid reappearance of algae in the reflecting pool is known as "new pond syndrome".
"When you have a natural, clear body of water in an outdoor environment like this, you will very frequently see the water turn green almost immediately," Goodale stated.
 |
"Trump" was etched into the bottom of the reflecting pool on 18/6. *Photo: AFP* |
The reflecting pool is in a symbolic area of Washington. On the steps of the Lincoln memorial, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "I have a dream" speech in 1963 to hundreds of thousands gathered around the pool.
Hong Hanh (via AFP)
