MOTHER NATURE GIVES THE GREEN FINGER TO TRUMP’S “AMERICAN FLAG BLUE” PART 1

IN PARTS 1 AND 2 TODAY AND TOMORROW, here’s proof positive that Mother Nature knows more than Donald J. Trump. (And who’s surprised?)

The Reflecting Tool Debacle. Maxine Joselow describes “Trump Ordered ‘American Flag Blue’ for the Reflecting Pool. It’s Green Again,” The New York Times, June 15, 2026.

Photosynthesis At Work. “President Trump wanted the Reflecting Pool at the Lincoln Memorial to look pristine,” reports Maxime Joselow. “Photosynthesis had other plans. Days after the Trump administration completed a $14.2 million project to coat the Reflecting Pool’s concrete floor with dark blue waterproofing material, clumps of algae dotted the surface on Sunday and Monday, giving parts of the pool a green hue.”

Above, the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, seen as typical in September 2021 and April and May 2026, based on images by Stefani Reynolds, Doug Mills and Allison Robbert for The New York Times. Below, National Park Service workers at the Reflecting Pool on Monday. Image by Alex Kent/The New York Times.

Background. Joselow recounts, “President Trump said last month that the pool had been ’filthy’ and ‘dirty’ for years. He said his changes would make the site ‘beautiful,’ adding that the waterproofing material on its floor was a color called ‘American flag blue.’ ” 

“To repair the pool,” Joselow describes, “Mr. Trump’s administration awarded no-bid contracts to two handpicked vendors [see also The New York Times: “ ‘Inflated’ Profit Margin”], bypassing a legally required process of seeking competitive bids because of what officials declared an urgent need. (The administration said the urgency was justified because of the nation’s 250th birthday party.)” 

Joselow continues, “The pool was gleaming last week after the work, which was meant to fix two longstanding problems, leaks and algal blooms, before the country’s 250th birthday. But after several hot and humid days, the algae returned in force.”

The Nanobubbler Defense. Joselow cites, “A spokeswoman for the Interior Department, which manages the site, said the project involved the successful installation of a water-treatment system called a nanobubbler. She said the algae would be gone soon. ‘Due to deploying the advanced nanobubbler technology, the algae is dead and being vacuumed up as we speak,’ the spokeswoman, Katie Martin, said in an email. ‘We thank President Trump for fixing the Reflecting Pool for good.’ ” 

“Last week,” Joselow notes, “Ms. Martin had said the algae was ‘residual’ and came from supply lines that sat dormant during the renovations.”

I wonder what next week’s explanation might be. And I also wonder if anyone cares that the word “algae” is the plural of “alga.” (Like “media” and “medium,” but who’s watching.)  Another quibble for another day.

In the meantime, let’s note what other news media say about Mother Nature and Trumpian climatology.

Callum Jones reports “Algae Thwart Trump’s $14.2m Attempt to Turn Reflecting Pool ‘American Flag Blue,” The Guardian, June 16, 2026. [Aha: The Guardian recognizes the word’s plural.] “A no-bid contract to waterproof and repaint the site, which dates back over a century, raised eyebrows. It was awarded to a Virginia-based company, Atlantic Industrial Coatings, which had previously carried out work on a swimming pool at one of the president’s golf clubs.” 

Callum Jones continues, “The administration had claimed ‘residual’” algae would be cleared in the immediate aftermath of the renovation. But it has proliferated amid warm weather.” [ed: “they have”?]

Algae on Monday in Washington D.C. Image by Jessica Koscielniak/Reuters via The Guardian.

Jones adds, “Administration officials have repeatedly claimed that other presidents tried and failed in years gone by to beautify the pool with ‘extremely costly’ projects. While Trump initially put the cost of this latest effort at about $1.8m, it quickly rose beyond $14m.”

Tomorrow in Part 2 we’ll see what Wired and PBS News have to say. And, just for fun, if anyone consistently recognizes the plural nature of algea. I’ve long given up on media. ds

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2026