A historic fountain the Trump administration restored is a new putrid color days after it turned brown—and officials can’t say if it will ever return to normal.
The Meridian Hill Park Cascading Fountain was one of the president’s “beautification” projects for America’s 250th anniversary celebration, but it appears to have suffered a similar fate as the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
On Wednesday, the once-clear fountain began pushing out brown water, which the National Park Service blamed on sediment that was released when old water lines were brought back online after years of disuse.
Workers spent the day pumping out the sediment, with the Interior Department saying the fountain was expected to “run clear within 24-36 hours.”
But two days later, the 13-tier fountain has gone from a shade of sewage-brown to a murky green, reminiscent of split pea soup.
The problem has left locals wondering whether the centerpiece of one of Washington’s most beloved parks will ever be the same. The Trump administration, however, can’t say.
“The National Park Service continues to fine tune the fountain’s operations after the reopening of the Meridian Hill Cascading Fountain in May,” an Interior Department spokesperson told the Daily Beast when asked if or when the water in the fountain would return to its earlier clear form.
Built in 1932, the cascading fountain is one of the longest in North America and has long been a gathering place for Washington residents.
The park itself, also known locally as Malcolm X Park, is an 11-acre National Historic Landmark known for its Italian-style gardens, Sunday drum circles, protests, and community gatherings.
After years of running dry, the fountain was reopened in May, making it one of the many restoration projects Trump cites to boast about transforming Washington, D.C.
“Things are really looking good in our nation’s capital,” he said in a recent Truth Social post.
The fountain is one of many beautification projects across the capital as Trump seeks to remake Washington in his own image. Some, such as the White House ballroom, the Triumphal Arch and the Reflecting Pool are well known.
But there are many others underway or proposed, including redesigning Pennsylvania Avenue, turning East Potomac into a championship golf course, creating a “National Garden of American Heroes,” and installing 47 trees at Lafayette Park (Trump is the 47th president of America).
Even the grass around D.C. is getting a revamp.
“I know more about grass than any human being,” Trump recently boasted.
At the White House this week, workers have also been stripping roughly 150 years of paint from the North Portico columns, while fresh decorative draping has quietly appeared across parts of the façade.
Trump is also building a multi-level military fortress underneath the ballroom, a new granite helipad on the South Lawn, and continues to add gold features in and around the West Wing and Oval Office.
Congressman Adam Smith said it was an “understatement” to say Trump spent too much time focusing on such things.
Others have accused the president of having the wrong priorities given many Americans are still struggling with cost-of-living pressures, which he promised to address.
“He seems obsessed with remaking everything, from the White House, to the Reflecting Pool, to his new Arch, to the Kennedy Center,” Smith said.
“But this is not what a democratically elected president and a representative of democracy should be focused on. This is much more what an authoritarian dictator would be focused on.”
