The newly renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which President Donald Trump has been hyping up, already has an unwanted guest.
The pool, which was filled on Tuesday after weeks of fast-tracked work, contained “residual algae” just 24 hours later, CNN has reported. A worker was seen scraping the substance from the bottom of the pool on Wednesday.
The Department of the Interior said the presence of the algae was normal.
“What you are seeing is residual algae from the supply lines, which have been sitting dormant for eight weeks while construction has been taking place. It’s part of the normal startup process. We are removing the algae, and the nanobubblers will maintain the pool and keep it algae-free,” a spokesperson told the Daily Beast. “President Donald J. Trump is an expert builder who has fixed the Reflecting Pool for good unlike the failed and extremely costly attempt by Obama and Biden.”
The White House declined to comment when reached by the Daily Beast.
The reflecting pool renovation, which ultimately cost over $11 million more than Trump had initially estimated, was part of the president’s various “beautification” projects in Washington ahead of the country’s 250th anniversary celebrations this summer. The Trump administration has been spending millions—partly in reallocated national park entrance fees—on that and on various ornamental fountains.
Further east along the National Mall, near the Washington Monument, another issue for Trump emerged on Thursday. In the grass were giant numbers forming the anti-Trump message “86 47.” Authorities have collected grass samples for testing and are investigating.
“The deranged vandalism on our National Mall will not be tolerated,” an Interior Department spokesperson told the Daily Beast in a statement. “Any threat against the president is taken very seriously by the Department, and our U.S. Park Police will investigate this incident and hold those responsible accountable.”
To the extent that those digits amount to an actual “threat” is unclear, though the Justice Department seems to think it does, at least when former FBI Director James Comey formed those numbers with seashells and posted a photo of it on Instagram. Comey later apologized, writing, “It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.”
“86” is common restaurant slang for removing or discarding something. Trump is the 47th president.
