{"id":3220,"date":"2026-07-11T18:08:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T18:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3220"},"modified":"2026-07-11T18:08:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T18:08:16","slug":"trump-once-suggested-his-reflecting-pool-renovations-would-last-a-century-its-now-being-drained-again-after-an-algae-bloom-and-peeling-paint","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3220","title":{"rendered":"Trump once suggested his Reflecting Pool renovations would last a century. It\u2019s now being drained again after an algae bloom and peeling paint"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The president at first suggested his renovations would last a century. But, within weeks of the project originally reaching completion last month, the water was\u00a0beset by an algae bloom\u00a0and pieces of the new coating appeared to be peeling off the bottom.<\/p>\n

Read more For 250 years, work defined American identity. That era Is ending<\/a><\/p>\n

Trump has blamed the peeling on vandals, though critics allege it\u2019s from shoddy repair work.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, whose agency oversees the National Park Service, told conservative podcaster Katie Miller in an interview released earlier this week that the new round of draining was planned. He also said that the water might still contain debris from an extensive\u00a0Independence Day fireworks display\u00a0over the National Mall.<\/p>\n

\u201cDrain the water, clean up the fireworks stuff,\u201d Burgum told Miller, who is the wife of deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller. \u201cRepair the vandalism that was done. Fill it back up again.\u201d<\/p>\n

The work on the Reflecting Pool is just one of a number of projects Trump has spearheaded across the nation\u2019s capital. Most prominently, he\u00a0demolished the White House\u2019s East Wing\u00a0to build a $400 million ballroom and\u00a0plans to build a towering arch\u00a0between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.<\/p>\n

He initially announced his intentions to beautify the Reflecting Pool this spring, saying he wanted it completed before the nation\u2019s 250th birthday celebrations.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Water was drained and Trump directed that the bottom be painted what he called \u201cAmerican flag blue.\u201d In May, the president posted on his social media site of the pool: \u201cThe goal is to have it done, at this higher level, prior to July 4th \u2014 We are ahead of schedule!\u201d<\/p>\n

But problems began quickly after the initial work was finished. Trump blamed vandals, and court documents\u00a0later showed\u00a0that the\u00a0\u00a0a June 9 incident in which a sharp knife or razor cut the pool\u2019s new liner.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump undercuts GOP midterms message with snub of housing bill<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

On Thursday, former Olympic canoe racer David Hearn\u00a0pleaded not guiltyin D.C. Superior Court to deliberately damaging the Reflecting Pool. Hearn has said he reached inside the pool to examine the peeled sealant and let go of a chunk when he was told to by a park worker.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

His attorneys and other Trump administration critics have derided the case as an abuse of prosecutorial power and maintain he is being scapegoated for the poor job done fixing up the Reflecting Pool.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

At least three other people have been charged in the same court with misdemeanors for allegedly removing pieces of paint from the Reflecting Pool, according to online court records. All three pleaded not guilty during their initial court appearances Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The pool was closed for the Independence Day celebration, which featured what Trump said was the largest fireworks display in the world. The president had said that the pool would have to be drained anew as part of the new round of repairs.<\/p>\n

Burgum has also said that the Trump administration won\u2019t seek bids for the new rounds of repairs. He told CNN\u2019s \u201cState of the Union\u201d last weekend: \u201cWe\u2019ll use the same company because they did a fantastic job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ohio-based\u00a0, also known as Greenwater Services, was given a $1.7 million contract to install a water-purification system in the Reflecting Pool, while Virginia-based\u00a0\u00a0was awarded $14.7 million to repaint and waterproof the pool\u2019s concrete floor.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Democratic senators and House members are investigating the pool project, including seeking answers about how much taxpayer funding is involved.<\/p>\n

Read more Americans are quietly abandoning the daily habit that billionaires say set them up for success\u2014and it could have lasting consequences<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Trump has blamed the peeling on vandals, though critics allege it’s from shoddy repair work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-donald-trump"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump once suggested his Reflecting Pool renovations would last a century. It\u2019s now being drained again after an algae bloom and peeling paint - Cross Country Moving Team<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3220\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump once suggested his Reflecting Pool renovations would last a century. It\u2019s now being drained again after an algae bloom and peeling paint - Cross Country Moving Team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Trump has blamed the peeling on vandals, though critics allege it's from shoddy repair work.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3220\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cross Country Moving Team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-11T18:08:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=3220#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=3220\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\"},\"headline\":\"Trump once suggested his Reflecting Pool renovations would last a century. It\u2019s now being drained again after an algae bloom and peeling paint\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-11T18:08:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=3220\"},\"wordCount\":638,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=3220#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/ccb23242216b5320dca51b6f1a24e8c7.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Donald Trump\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=3220#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=3220\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=3220\",\"name\":\"Trump once suggested his Reflecting Pool renovations would last a century. It\u2019s now being drained again after an algae bloom and peeling paint - Cross Country Moving Team\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=3220#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=3220#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/ccb23242216b5320dca51b6f1a24e8c7.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-11T18:08:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=3220#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=3220\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=3220#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/ccb23242216b5320dca51b6f1a24e8c7.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/ccb23242216b5320dca51b6f1a24e8c7.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?p=3220#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Trump once suggested his Reflecting Pool renovations would last a century. It\u2019s now being drained again after an algae bloom and peeling paint\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cross Country Moving Team\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Trump once suggested his Reflecting Pool renovations would last a century. It\u2019s now being drained again after an algae bloom and peeling paint - Cross Country Moving Team","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3220","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Trump once suggested his Reflecting Pool renovations would last a century. It\u2019s now being drained again after an algae bloom and peeling paint - Cross Country Moving Team","og_description":"Trump has blamed the peeling on vandals, though critics allege it's from shoddy repair work.","og_url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3220","og_site_name":"Cross Country Moving Team","article_published_time":"2026-07-11T18:08:16+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3220#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3220"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa"},"headline":"Trump once suggested his Reflecting Pool renovations would last a century. It\u2019s now being drained again after an algae bloom and peeling paint","datePublished":"2026-07-11T18:08:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3220"},"wordCount":638,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3220#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ccb23242216b5320dca51b6f1a24e8c7.webp","articleSection":["Donald Trump"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3220#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3220","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3220","name":"Trump once suggested his Reflecting Pool renovations would last a century. It\u2019s now being drained again after an algae bloom and peeling paint - Cross Country Moving Team","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3220#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3220#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ccb23242216b5320dca51b6f1a24e8c7.webp","datePublished":"2026-07-11T18:08:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3220#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3220"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3220#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ccb23242216b5320dca51b6f1a24e8c7.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ccb23242216b5320dca51b6f1a24e8c7.webp","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3220#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Trump once suggested his Reflecting Pool renovations would last a century. It\u2019s now being drained again after an algae bloom and peeling paint"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/","name":"Cross Country Moving Team","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1b8121bfb9a1c55d1fff3fca675fceaa","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com"],"url":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}