Why Washington’s reflecting pool has gone from ‘US blue’ to algae green

The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool ‌in Washington, DC has turned green with algae just weeks after it underwent a major multimillion-dollar renovation to make it shine an “American flag blue” colour. On Friday, US President Donald Trump said on his Truth Social platform that the site had been vandalised, suggesting damage was done by “radical left lunatics”, but that the algae that had appeared was being cleaned up. Recommended Stories list of 3 items end of list “We’ve had some real problems with Vandalism at the beautiful Reflecting Pool,” Trump said. “The algae is 75% gone, and the condition will soon be completely remedied, and the area that was vandalized, fortunately, is just a small area of damage, and will be fixed early next week.” Trump, however, did not provide evidence to support his allegation of vandalism, which he said included someone pouring corrosive chemicals into the pool. Here’s what we know: What has happened to the pool? The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which was constructed in 1922, is near the Lincoln Memorial where Martin Luther King Jr delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech in the United States capital in 1963. The bottom of the pool has been repainted in ‌a colour Trump ⁠calls “American flag blue”, and on June 6, he announced the renovation work for the project, which cost $14.7m, was complete. …