Donald Trump recently gushed about his $14 million makeover of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, claiming that it would be filled with “CLEAN, BEAUTIFUL WATER” that will “SPARKLE magnificently” upon completion.
But the president’s talk doesn’t appear to be submerged in reality just yet as several snaps and a video, captured and shared on X by photographer Andrew Leyden, show the pool was looking “quite green” on Sunday morning.
In recent months, Trump has complained about the “garbage”-filled pool drawing “dirt, grime and decay” in an apparent effort to justify the renovations ― and to attack his predecessors over algae thriving in the water during their administrations.
And while algae reportedly resurfaced in the wake of a $34 million, Obama-era renovation on the pool back in 2012, it seems the long issue of the plant-like organisms blooming in the pool continues to haunt Trump and his administration, even as the president claims to have already “fixed” it.
An Interior Department spokesperson told The Washington Post that the algae is “residual” from supply lines that sat dormant for weeks during construction, adding that it was “part of the normal startup process.”
“We are removing the algae, and the nanobubblers will maintain the pool and keep it algae-free,” the spokesperson added.
Check out Leyden’s algae-laden snaps below.
Andrew Leyden/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Andrew Leyden/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Andrew Leyden/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Andrew Leyden/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Andrew Leyden/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Critics on social media teased Trump over the pool, including one user on X who quipped it was emitting “Iranian flag green,” a nod to Trump claiming the pool would be resurfaced in an “American flag blue” color.
Another user used the look to sarcastically celebrate the president’s big day on Sunday, writing, “Happy Birthday Donald. You’ve renewed and invigorated the Swamp.”