WASHINGTON— President Donald Trump was delighted to announced the completion of his new reflecting pool a few weeks ago. Under his close supervision, the pool’s base was painted a deep blue to better reflect Washington’s iconic monuments.
For a brief period, even the president’s harshest critics were impressed. The reflecting pool was a beautiful blue, perfectly reflecting the history surrounding it, and tourists and locals on both sides of the aisle rushed to enjoy the sight.
Within just a few weeks, however, the pool became a media focal point once again. Left-leaning media flocked to the National Mall to report algae growth and pieces of blue paint floating up in the water (some enthusiastic tourists are said to be taking pieces as souvenirs). A picture of a dead baby duckling floating on the edge of the pool sparked outrage, raising questions about whether the water itself is safe.
Trump says that “sick, deranged people” vandalized the reflecting pool with chemicals and knives used to slash a massive cut through it. He also said that multiple individuals have been arrested, and more arrests will come.
On Saturday, he called the vandalism “a true affront to both Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and should be dealt with accordingly,” adding: “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.”
“I can’t help if it someone goes in with a knife and starts hacking it up,” he said on Monday in the Oval Office as he spoke to reporters. Pressed to share photos of the vandalism, Trump promised reporters, “You’ll see it in court.”
The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool continues to show signs of an algae bloom on the National Mall on June 22, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The president says the vandals not only killed large amounts of grass near the pool, they also took used a blade to put a 250 foot gash into the pool and poured “corrosive and destructive chemicals” inside.
“The Reflecting Pool was never so beautiful as it was just one week ago, even going back to 1922 when it opened,” he said, vowing: “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 United States Park Police confirmed to The Daily Wire that they have arrested five people in connection with the vandalism, and issued citations to five others, and the Metropolitan Police Department said that it is not involved with these incidents.
An administration official shared that the slash torn into the reflecting pool is actually more than 300 feet long, though it was originally thought to be only 250 feet.
“The tear appears to have been made with a sharp object or blade and looks like ‘multiple razor blade slashes,'” the administration official told The Daily Wire. “The U.S. Park Police is currently conducting investigations.”
WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 21: Ducklings swim through the dirtier east end of the Reflecting Pool. (Photo by Pete Kiehart for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Five people have been arrested for vandalism, the official shared, and five additional individuals have been issued federal citations.
Additionally, police have filed 14 police reports for vandalism, including the crime that the president described in his Truth Social post (the blade slashes in the pool).
The Trump administration is working to assess the damage and will then make affairs as quick as it can, the official said, noting that the peroxide levels in the reflecting pool have been tested and found safe, at the same level used in natural swimming pools.
“The water has been tested daily and is continuing to be tested,” a Department of Interior spokesman told The Daily Wire. “Hydrogen peroxide, which is a milder treatment than chlorine and is used in spas and specialty pools like natural swimming pools, is treating the pool. There are no harmful side effects to marine life or to the environment.”
The U.S. Park Police are investigating multiple reports of chemicals in the pool, the administration official shared, and the Interior spokesman said that the National Park Service is working on the project as well.
At the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool and I’m sorry to report that we have a dead duckling. Last week the tests suggested the algae was harmless but an expert tells me we could have signs of cyanobacteria pic.twitter.com/89L4KHwkiK
— Rob Crilly (@robcrilly) June 21, 2026
Meanwhile, Democrats and activists are hyping the situation, pointing to algae on the reflecting pool as evidence of a failure on the part of the administration. The site appears to be drawing critics of the president, multiple of whom were arrested on Monday for apparently trying to peel paint off the pool.
Top House Democrat Debbie Dingell of Michigan said Monday that her constituents were “outraged” by algae in the reflecting pool.
“That’s all anybody talked about at home this weekend,” Dingell said on CNN. “It’s very sad, actually, as we do go into the 250th and you know, the 250th is a time that all of us should remember how lucky we are to live in this country, and what our forefathers put into that Constitution.”
“I don’t know what’s happened,” she added. “Algae’s a real problem, and it is in Michigan, it is in the Great Lakes, so maybe people will study it and understand what he did to the reflecting pool, which is part of the beauty of Washington. I don’t like that it’s there.”
And professional anti-Trump protestors are also gathering at the pool to protest — apparently in favor of algae. One such protestor is Nadine Seiler, who describes herself as a “warrior goddess of the resistance” and has been heavily involved in Left-wing protest movements since at least 2017. The Daily Wire previously reported that she was one of the main protestors appearing outside the homes of the Supreme Court justices during the overturn of Roe v. Wade.
By the reflecting pool over the weekend, Seiler carried a big flag that accuses Trump of “galling” hypocrisy, wearing a shirt that read “Team Algae.”
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