Trump says Reflecting Pool repairs will begin immediately

President Donald Trump said repair work will begin “immediately” at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool after algae blooms and peeling paint troubled the Washington landmark following a multimillion-dollar renovation ahead of America’s 250th Independence Day celebrations.

Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday evening that he had “inspected” the pool and that crews would start fixing what he called the “seriously vandalized Reflecting Pool.” Reporters traveling with the president said the post came as his helicopter approached the White House after returning from Camp David, suggesting he viewed the site from the air rather than visiting it on the ground.

“I just inspected it, and could only say to myself, and those gathered around me, WOW, who would do such a thing? SICK, DERANGED PEOPLE!” Trump wrote.

The long, shallow pool between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument has continued to face problems despite recent renovation work that included painting the bottom dark blue. The BBC reported the project cost an estimated $13 million, while The Guardian described it as a $14.2 million makeover. Media reports and visitors have documented sections of the new paint peeling from the pool bottom, while algae has turned the water a vivid green.

Trump had previously said contractors would “probably be forced to release and drain much of the water in order to do the necessary repairs,” adding that he wanted the work completed as quickly as possible. The pool may need to be drained and refilled for a second time this month, according to the BBC.

The president has blamed vandals for the damage. He said someone used “some form of knife or blade” to put a 250-foot gash into the pool’s surface and also accused people of pouring chemicals into the water. He said the alleged damage did not include an earlier incident in which grass near the pool was damaged.

A senior Trump administration official told CBS News, the BBC’s U.S. partner, that five people had been arrested for vandalism and five others issued citations by police Saturday night. The official said 14 police reports had been filed, including one involving the alleged 250-foot gash. U.S. Park Police did not respond to a BBC request to confirm the arrest figures.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said citations had been issued and vowed prosecutions for anyone damaging the pool. “Anyone who is in a position of vandalizing or attempting to vandalize will face the criminal justice system in DC,” she told Fox News on Sunday. Pirro said anyone adding products that could generate algae could face more severe charges, but she did not provide arrest statistics or specific details.

Three-time Olympian and champion canoeist David “Davey” Hearn, who was apprehended, denied damaging the pool. He told the BBC he was only touching peeling paint and “didn’t destroy, rip, tear, peel, or remove any part” of it. “The condition of any part of the reflecting pool didn’t change,” Hearn said. “It wasn’t affected. It was the same before I got there as when I walked away from it.” He called his arrest an “arbitrary, capricious prosecution.” The Guardian reported that Hearn told The Washington Post he was arrested by U.S. Park Police on a misdemeanor charge after touching a peeling piece of paint liner to see how it felt.

National Park Service workers have used chemicals to treat the algae bloom, including reportedly hydrogen peroxide. The Guardian reported the shallow pool can reach temperatures above 85 degrees Fahrenheit in summer. Trump posted Friday that 75% of the algae was gone.

A news photographer spotted a dead duckling floating in the pool over the weekend. The BBC reported it was unclear how the animal died or whether work at the pool had harmed it.

Rosalina Stancheva Christova, a George Mason University aquatic ecology professor who studies algae, told the BBC she sampled the pool water on June 16 and identified the green algae as Desmodesmus, which she said is “absolutely harmless” to people and animals. She cautioned, however, that birds could introduce other algae that carry harmful bacteria. “These ecosystems are very dynamic, and the algal composition is changing really quickly,” she said, adding that the pool should be monitored constantly “to know which organisms are living there.”

Built in the 1920s, the Reflecting Pool stretches about 2,030 feet across the National Mall and has long faced leaks, structural deterioration, faulty pipes, algae growth and bird droppings.