Donald Trump announced that work on the Washington, D.C., Reflecting Pool will begin immediately after inspecting the site from a helicopter.
Despite a costly renovation that included a fresh blue coating, the historic pool has again become a green swath of algae, sparking concerns among visitors and federal officials. Trump said he’d fly over the site on Sunday after returning from Camp David and found the water “so high” that it needed a full drain and re‑fill by the end of the month.
In addition to the biological issue, the pool has been a target of vandalism. Trump’s administration reports 14 police complaints, including 5 arrests, and says the U.S. Attorney for Washington, DC, Jeanine Pirro will prosecute anyone who damages the monument.
Officials have started a chemical treatment plan that includes hydrogen peroxide to clear the algae bloom, which was confirmed by a specialty academic to be harmless Desmodesmus species. However, environmental experts warn that the ecosystem is dynamic and could shift to harmful algal strains.
During the weekend, a photographer found a dead duckling floating in the pool, and President Trump, using his online platform Truth Social, called the vandalists “SICK, DERANGED PEOPLE.” The president also tweeted that the inspecting helicopter will “start the repair” immediately, a decision that has drawn media attention and some criticism of the opaque repair process.
