Trump says algae-infested Reflecting Pool must be emptied after people tried to 'destroy' it

Donald Trump has claimed that 'vandalism' has led to damage to the Reflecting Pool at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, and that it may need to be drained.

The pool recently had a $14 million renovation which saw it painted 'American flag blue' ahead of the 4th of July celebrations in the USA's 250th anniversary.

However the project has been plagued with problems, with the pool becoming infested with algae shortly after the renovation work was completed, turning the pool an intense shade of green

There have been several theories put forward as to what caused the algal bloom, from residual algae in the pipes to the darker color absorbing more heat and creating the perfect conditions for algae.

Employees of the National Parks Service have also poured hydrogen peroxide into the pool in a bid to oxidize it and get rid of the algae, and while the algae does appear to be diminishing, the new coat of paint is now peeling.

The water turned green from the algae (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Trump has now said that the pool may need to be drained entirely in order to carry out repair work, writing: "We met with contractors today, will probably be forced to release and drain much of the water in order to do the necessary repairs, but will have them done as quickly as possible."

The US president has also blamed the damage to the pool on 'vandalism', though he didn't offer any direct evidence of this, claiming that someone had used '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.'

He also said that people had tried to damage the pool by pouring in 'corrosive and destructive chemicals', adding that the National Parks Service had 'arrested multiple individuals for vandalizing our Nations magnificent Reflecting Poll [sic]'.

In the post on Truth Social, Trump added: "We are very proud of what we have done with this magnificent structure, and we will get it repaired, quickly, to an equal level of Beauty."

The new coating can be seen peeling int he pool (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Referring to the alleged vandals, Trump wrote: "Who would do such a thing? These are very serious crimes having to do with the destruction of National Monuments. Years in jail!"

Trump then went on to refer to people who 'destroyed the grass outside of the Pool'.

This came after someone had carved the message '86 47' into the grass by the pool, with '86' being a term commonly used in hospitality meaning that someone has run out, or been thrown out, and 47 referring to Trump as the 47th president.

The fiasco around the reflecting pool has been criticized by Minnesota governor Tim Walz, who wrote on X: “Found an imaginary problem, said only they could fix it, didn’t listen to experts, hired buddies who grifted millions, failed miserably, bragged how great it went. The entire Trump presidency in a nutshell.”