Peeling paint adds to woes of Trump’s pool project

WASHINGTON -– The blue paint is peeling on the renovation championed by President Donald Trump to spruce up Washington’s iconic Reflecting Pool ahead of the 250th anniversary celebrations of independence in the United States.

An AFP photographer on June 19 saw that bits of blue paint were being pumped out of the pool by workers, along with green algae that has blossomed since it was recently refilled, turning the water a swampy colour.

The problems with the peeling paint appear widespread across the 610m long pool.

The ongoing issue has been documented by news media and others on social media in the past few days.

In one place, someone had traced the word “TRUMP” into the green scum on the bottom of the pool, where the blue paint is patchy.

In a post on June 19 on his Truth Social platform, Trump attributed the issues to “vandalism.”

“The algae is 75 per cent gone, and the condition will soon be completely remedied, and the area that was vandalised, fortunately, is just a small area of damage, and will be fixed early next week,” he said, adding that law enforcement was “actively investigating” the situation.

The pool repainting project, which US media have reported cost around US$14 million (S$18.11 million), is part of Trump’s drive to put his stamp on Washington with things like a ballroom at the White House and a huge arch by the Potomac River.

Under Trump’s orders the long, rectangular pool, designed to capture reflections of the Washington Monument on the National Mall, near the Lincoln Memorial, was drained and painted in what he calls “American flag blue”.

This is hallowed Washington real estate: it was from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial that civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famed “I Have A Dream” speech in 1963 to several hundred thousand people gathered around the pool.

On July 4, the United States will mark 250 years since its Declaration of Independence from Britain. AFP