Washington, August 15, 2026. — The legendary Reflecting Pool near the Lincoln Memorial, one of the main symbols of the American capital, has been drained again. In place of the water surface, which was supposed to shine with the «deep blue of the flag», National Park Service workers are manually scrubbing the bottom with brushes and washing away chemicals with hoses. The large-scale repair, personally initiated by President Donald Trump in April 2026, turned into an ecological disaster and a financial scandal.
The President's Whim and the «Frying Pan Effect»
The story of the failure began with an ambitious initiative by Donald Trump. In April 2026, the President demanded an emergency reconstruction of the pool for the grand celebrations of the US 250th anniversary. The main requirement was to update the waterproofing and paint the bottom in a saturated shade called «American Flag Blue». The project, costing $14.6 million, was awarded to a contractor without a bidding process — a company known for its work on Trump's private golf clubs.
However, the tight deadlines and choice of materials led to unforeseen consequences. The dark blue polymer coating, intended to mimic the color of the flag, turned out to be an ideal heat trap. Under the influence of sunlight, the shallow basin began to heat up to critical temperatures. This triggered an explosive growth of Desmodesmus microalgae. Within two days, the water turned into a toxic green sludge, and local fauna, including wild ducks, began to die off in the pool.
Chemical Attack and Coating Destruction
The attempt to save the media image led to even greater destruction. The administration ordered tons of hydrogen peroxide to be poured into the water to fight the algae. However, the chemicals reacted with the cheap polymer coating. Combined with July heat and violations of the laying technology, the blue paint began to bubble, crack, and peel off the concrete in huge patches. As a result, the pool had to be drained again to manually scrape off the ruined plastic.
Contradictory Data: Vandalism or Construction Defect?
A sharp polemic arose around the causes of the coating's destruction. Donald Trump, trying to hide the failure, claimed that the pool was attacked by «left-wing radical vandals» who allegedly cut the bottom with knives, and threatened them with 10 years in prison. However, an FBI investigation and independent experts confirmed a different version: the damage was caused solely by construction defects and the contractor's technological negligence. Democratic Senators Richard Blumenthal and Jeff Merkley have already initiated an official Department of Justice investigation into the misappropriation of budget funds.
The Irony of Fate: From Hormuz to a «Puddle» in Washington
The situation around the Reflecting Pool reached absurdity against the backdrop of the administration's geopolitical ambitions. While Trump tries to declare the Strait of Hormuz American territory, a municipal tragedy is unfolding in his «backyard». In the American segment of social networks, people joke that if the plan to annex the real Hormuz fails, the President might simply rename this man-made puddle near the White House «Hormuz», since the traffic of commercial ships in both places is currently equally zero. The Atlantic columnists call the silt-covered and drained pool «the best metaphor for the management style of the new administration».
