Trump's $14 Million Swamp: The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool Renovation That Turned Green Within Days

Every year, millions of people stand at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to see the monument and the Washington Monument mirrored in the water. This summer, just weeks before the country's 250th birthday, they're watching crews vacuum green sludge and peeling blue paint out of a pool that cost taxpayers more than $14 million to fix. 

What Went Wrong With the Reflecting Pool

The pool, which stretches about 2,000 feet, was refilled after the renovation and turned green within days. Photos spread quickly online showing the water going a bright neon green, with chunks of blue coating floating to the top. By the weekend of June 20, National Park Service workers were using vacuums to pull dead algae and loose paint off the bottom.

The job included repainting the floor a color President Trump calls "American flag blue." He first announced the plan in April, hoping to have the pool ready for the July 4 anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Why It Turned Green

Scientists who study water and pools said the color came from a natural algae bloom — a type called Desmodesmus. They said blooms like this are common in shallow water that gets a lot of sun, and that the renovation itself may have made it worse by throwing off the balance of nutrients in the water. A George Mason University professor tested samples and confirmed the algae was not toxic.

Worries About the Ducks and Other Wildlife

The pool has long been a home for waterfowl, especially mallard ducks that nest and raise their young there each spring and summer. As the algae spread, crews were seen pouring bottles of hydrogen peroxide into the water to fight it — a step that worried wildlife advocates. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that hydrogen peroxide "is a powerful oxidizing agent" and "can cause systemic toxicity when inhaled or ingested," with effects that grow "more severe as the concentration of hydrogen peroxide increases."

Then the dead birds started turning up. Journalist Aaron Parnas reported finding a baby duck dead at the pool, telling his audience, "A baby duck has now died at the reflecting pool." A reporter for NOTUS who watched crews work called it a "bad day to be a duck." The Hill later reported that another pair of dead ducks was found nearby. No veterinary or environmental authority has confirmed what killed the birds, and there is no proof linking the deaths to the chemical treatment.

Some experts also questioned whether the treatment could even work. Washington pediatrician Dr. Michael O'Brien wrote on X: "Y'all, not to be a huge nerd but for the reflecting pool you would need a minimum of about 8,000 litres of 12% hydrogen peroxide to reach the 50 parts per million concentration to kill algae," adding, "Is this what happens when you have 0 scientists in your administration?"

What It Cost

The price climbed far past the original plan.  The work grew from an early estimate of about $2 million to more than $14 million by the time it was finished. A Virginia company got the job without competing for it — a no-bid contract — and an Ohio company was paid about $1.7 million for the "nanobubble" ozone technology used to treat the algae.

Those numbers have led lawmakers to call for an investigation into how the money was spent. The project also drew a lawsuit in May from the Cultural Landscape Foundation, a nonprofit that argued the administration skipped reviews meant to protect historic sites. A federal judge had not ruled before the administration told the court the work was done.

The President Blames Vandals

Instead of pointing to problems with the construction, Trump has said the pool was damaged on purpose. In a post on Truth Social late on Saturday, June 20, he wrote: "The United States Park Police have arrested multiple individuals for vandalizing our Nation's magnificent Reflecting Pool. These are very serious crimes having to do with the destruction of National Monuments. Years in jail! Work will begin immediately on its repair."

In a second post, he described damage to the new lining: "They took some form of knife or blade, and put a 250 foot long gash into the beautiful facade of what took so much work, competence, and money to build and complete," adding, "They also poured corrosive and destructive chemicals into the Pool."

He also stood by the work, writing that "The Reflecting Pool was never so beautiful as it was just one week ago, even going back to 1922 when it opened." The pool actually opened in 1923.

He called the alleged vandalism an insult to the country's history. "What these terrible Vandals have done is a true affront to both Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and should be dealt with accordingly," he wrote.

What Officials and the Record Show

So far, the president has offered no proof for his claims, and neither the U.S. Park Police nor any other agency has publicly confirmed the arrests he described. The White House also gave no evidence that vandals caused the green water or the damage he mentioned. National Park Service officials pointed instead to leaking pipes that threw off the pool's filtration system.

One arrest has been confirmed. On Friday, June 19, Maryland resident and three-

time Olympian David Hearn was arrested and charged with destroying government property. Hearn says he only reached into the pool to touch a blue piece that had already come loose, and he denies the charge.

"Drain The Swamp," Turned on It's Head

For many onlookers, the sight of a green, algae-filled pool has been hard to separate from one of Trump's best-known slogans. He rose to office promising to "drain the swamp" in Washington — and critics have been quick to point out that he now has a literal one on the National Mall. When ABC News visited the site, tourists stopped to photograph the bloom and joked about how fast the project went wrong. The slogan comparison has also shown up in commentary. Yahoo News ran its coverage under the headline "Swamp Thing."

What Comes Next

Trump said the pool will likely have to be drained again so it can be repaired. "We met with contractors today, will probably be forced to release and drain much of the water in order to do the necessary repairs," he wrote. For visitors, that means losing the pool's famous mirror image of the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument while it sits empty — for how long, no one has said. The Park Service has not confirmed when the pool will reopen or what the extra repairs will cost.