{"id":479,"date":"2026-06-16T22:08:45","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T22:08:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=479"},"modified":"2026-06-16T22:08:45","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T22:08:45","slug":"trumps-american-flag-blue-reflecting-pool-is-green-with-algae","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=479","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s \u2018American Flag Blue\u2019 Reflecting Pool is Green With Algae"},"content":{"rendered":"
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President Donald Trump\u2019s nearly $15 million directive to ensure the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool glistens a pristine, deep, \u201cAmerican flag blue\u201d has hit a snag: The water is green.<\/p>\n

Read more Democrats Prep for Shrinking Southern Delegations<\/a><\/p>\n

Now refilled after a weeks-long project to paint the bottom of the pool, an algal bloom has coated the basin with a layer of gunk thick enough to write in.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, crews were working to get the reflecting pool back to reflecting. National Park Service staff poured hydrogen peroxide into one corner of the pool \u2014 the chemical can be temporarily \u201cpretty effective\u201d at killing off bacteria, according to Hans W. Paerl, a marine and environmental science professor at University of North Carolina Chapel-Hill. Later in the day, that area of the pool was noticeably a milky blue.<\/p>\n

Multiple staff could be seen wading through the shallow water, clearing the bottom of the pool inch by inch. Two NPS crewmembers told NOTUS that they were vacuuming the algae from the bottom of the pool.<\/p>\n

NPS and the Department of Interior did not respond to an emailed question from NOTUS about whether or not they planned to clean the whole pool that way.<\/p>\n

Also on Tuesday, a contractor was injecting ozone \u2014 which is highly effective at killing algal blooms \u2014 directly into the water from equipment parked on the edge of the pool. That process has been ongoing for several days.<\/p>\n

Renovating the reflecting pool was one of Trump\u2019s \u201cbeautification initiatives\u201d ahead of celebrations for America\u2019s 250th birthday. Trump\u2019s critics attacked the project as a desecration of a national monument \u2014 and a symbol of Trump wasting taxpayer dollars on his own aesthetic preferences. One D.C. nonprofit unsuccessfully attempted to stop the renovations with a lawsuit<\/u><\/span>.<\/p>\n

When the painting was done, Trump championed the pool as an early success of his plans for the city \u2014 one that includes a giant Arc de Triomphe-esque archway<\/u><\/span> and gold-guilded horse statues<\/u><\/span>.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody\u2019s looking at that reflecting pool, they can\u2019t believe it reflects,\u201d Trump said last week, soon before the algae took over. \u201cWe used a dark blue; it\u2019s called American flag blue. I wanted to go light, but they said, \u201cSir, light doesn\u2019t reflect and light shows leaves and garbage.\u201d<\/p>\n

The park service has said<\/u><\/span> that the flux of algae is residual from water in the pipes while the pool was drained. The Interior Department spent $1.7 million on a contract to coat the pool with nanobubbles to prevent algal growth, which it says will keep the algae at bay once the pool is cleaned.<\/p>\n

Read more Feds Say Thwarted UFC Attack Involved Snipers and Exploding Drones<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe nanobubble system will inject ozone-impregnated nanobubbles into the Reflecting Pool water,\u201d an Interior Department spokesperson said. \u201cThe nanobubbles will not rise to the surface and burst; instead, the nanobubbles will diffuse throughout the entire water column like a gas.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

The Interior Department also defended the renovations by taking a swipe at the Obama administration, which faced a similar algae bloom<\/u><\/span> in 2012 after a multi-million dollar renovation.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnlike under Obama and Biden, the National Park Service is actually maintaining the beautifully completed Reflecting Pool,\u201d the agency spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

As NPS worked to clean up the pool, tourists and Washingtonians moved around them to see one of the most popular tourist attractions in town. Some NOTUS spoke to were unaware of the drama surrounding the shallow pool. Others were more critical.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo many words come to mind. Fiasco, I guess,\u201d Frank S., a D.C. resident who declined to give his full name, told NOTUS. \u201cIt just seems typical of this administration. They try to do something and it always works out crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sonia, a visitor from Pennsylvania who also declined to give her last name, suggested the NPS deploy fish into the pond to eat the algae.<\/p>\n

Nichole Gerlach, visiting from Rhode Island, stopped by to see the pool, something she has wanted to do since she saw the movie \u201cForrest Gump.\u201d She told NOTUS that while the pool wasn\u2019t perfect, the algae wasn\u2019t disrupting her experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look at that, it looks pretty,\u201d she said pointing to the length of the pool.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just can\u2019t look down, that\u2019s all,\u201d she said, gesturing at pool\u2019s edge, where ducks were drifting through the film of green algae on the pool\u2019s surface.<\/p>\n

Read more Another Key GOP Senator Hesitant to Back Todd Blanche<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The National Park Service was trying to clear the algal bloom Tuesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":478,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-metro"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump\u2019s \u2018American Flag Blue\u2019 Reflecting Pool is Green With Algae - Modern Home Journals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=479\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump\u2019s \u2018American Flag Blue\u2019 Reflecting Pool is Green With Algae - Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The National Park Service was trying to clear the algal bloom Tuesday.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=479\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-16T22:08:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=479#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=479\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"headline\":\"Trump\u2019s \u2018American Flag Blue\u2019 Reflecting Pool is Green With Algae\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-16T22:08:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=479\"},\"wordCount\":754,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=479#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/032edaa20e665e2d511d4bc10438353a-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Metro\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=479#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=479\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=479\",\"name\":\"Trump\u2019s \u2018American Flag Blue\u2019 Reflecting Pool is Green With Algae - 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