Welcome to The Logoff: Donald Trump’s Reflecting Pool mess is only getting worse.
What’s happening? By now, you’ve probably heard: The recently renovated and refinished Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, ostensibly painted “American Flag Blue,” is green.
The reasons why, it turns out, are fairly simple: “American Flag Blue” is a much darker shade than the pool’s original gray color (you can get a sense of the difference here), making for warmer water. It’s quite warm in Washington, DC, in June to begin with, and the combination means algae has been growing like crazy.
Sections of the pool’s new, blue liner have also been lifting free from the bottom, while the Trump administration has been trying to tamp down the algal green by pouring hydrogen peroxide into the pool.
The reason we’re writing about it now, though, is not because the renovation has been a remarkably comprehensive disaster, or because it was rife with suspect no-bid contracts, or even because of the administration’s remarkable mendacity. Instead, it’s Trump’s reaction to his project going to shambles.
So what did he say? Over the last few days, Trump has been on a social media tear, accusing people of vandalizing the pool, alleging a several-hundred-foot “gash” in the new liner and “corrosive and destructive chemicals” poured into the pool.
There is — and I cannot emphasize this part enough — absolutely no public evidence that the Reflecting Pool has actually been vandalized, unless you count Trump’s original renovation job. But since Friday, there have been at least five arrests for alleged “vandalism” of the pool, including a former US Olympian who says he only touched a detached piece of the pool liner, and an equal number of citations. Trump has threatened 10-year prison sentences for the alleged “vandals.”
As of Monday, the pool is being watched over by National Guard troops, as well as US Marshals, Park Police, and various sheriff’s deputies. Oh, and it’s being drained again.
