SouthernWorldwide.com – President Donald Trump and the Department of the Interior are announcing a significant achievement in clearing the Lincoln Reflecting Pool, framing it as a victory for America 250 celebrations.
Trump took to Truth Social on Sunday to share images of the pool, highlighting the clear blue water and the reflection of the Washington Monument. He also used the platform to issue a public appeal for information leading to the arrest of individuals suspected of vandalism.
“The U.S. Park Police is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying the individual in the notice below in connection with a Destruction of Government Property investigation related to the Reflecting Pool,” Trump posted, accompanied by a “Wanted” poster.
The Interior Department’s statement, shared by Trump, attributed the pool’s clarity to “advanced nanobubbler technology” and the diligent efforts of the National Park Service cleanup crew.
Greg Wischer, founder of Dei Gratia Minerals and the Interior’s deputy assistant secretary for land and minerals management, detailed the success in a letter addressed to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and President Trump. He specifically mentioned the effectiveness of the nanobubbler technology in eradicating the algae that has historically plagued the pool, particularly during past reopenings.
“The Reflecting Pool water is crystal clear, and our National Park Service team is now vacuuming up the dead algae resting on the bottom of some parts of the Reflecting Pool — just like the destroyed Iranian Navy resting on the bottom of the Persian Gulf,” Wischer wrote, drawing a stark comparison.
The photographs shared by Trump depict the Washington Monument prominently reflected in the pristine waters of the Reflecting Pool under a clear sky. One image offers a view from the Lincoln Memorial end, while another provides a closer perspective of the monument’s reflection.
Trump also amplified a social media post from the U.S. Interior Press that celebrated the technological breakthrough, reiterating the key points from Wischer’s memo.
The memo further elaborated on the final maintenance stage, stating that the vacuuming process, following the pool’s refilling, would be completed within days. It noted that the section of the pool nearest to the Lincoln Memorial had already been cleared, revealing the “beautiful American Flag Blue coating on the bottom of the pool.”
Trump’s Interior Department has been vocal in praising the new technology for overcoming previous challenges in maintaining the pool’s clarity. This narrative includes pointed remarks about the performance of previous administrations, notably under former President Barack Obama.
“Previous administrations — most notably under Obama — failed to maintain the Reflecting Pool, and after refilling the pool, the water would quickly become murky and thick with massive clumps of algae floating on the surface,” the memo concluded, contrasting it with the current success.
The statement continued to highlight the effectiveness of the nanobubbler technology and the vacuuming process, emphasizing the “crystal clear” water and the brightly shining “American Flag Blue coating on the bottom of the pool.”
In a jab at the media, the memo added, “As our National Park Service team noted, the Reflecting Pool is now so ‘blue’ that the Fake News Media, which has been staked out at the Reflecting Pool for weeks, has fled!”
The 6.75 million-gallon pool has been a focal point for criticism and physical attacks from Trump detractors and anti-Trump activists. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum addressed these issues on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday.
“The Reflecting Pool has been a big success,” Burgum stated, linking it to the broader national celebration. “And we’ve got 340 million people in this country that are celebrating 250. We did have a few vandals, but all that’s going to be repairable, and that’ll all be fixed in the coming weeks as we go forward.”
Burgum indicated that the extent of the damage might allow for repairs without a complete draining of the pool. The vandalism reportedly caused “multiple gashes that add up to 350 feet.”
“We don’t know if we need to drain the whole thing or not because, you know, the cutting happened on the edge, and, of course, it slopes from the edge,” Burgum explained. “We may be able to partially drain it and do the repair. To be able to fix it, we may not have to drain the whole thing, but it could go very quickly.”
While critics and media outlets have focused on the potential costs associated with the refurbishment, Burgum attributed these added expenses directly to the vandalism.
“We weren’t expecting that we were going to have a small group of people that wanted to try to destroy effectively what is part of the Lincoln Memorial,” Burgum told ABC. “There’s plenty of cameras around the Lincoln statue and around the memorial, but the Reflecting Pool had gone for, you know, decades without vandalism.”
