Trump Administration Compares Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool Algae Cleanup to Destroyed Iran’s Navy

The Trump administration compared cleanup work on Washington, D.C.’s Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to the destruction of Iran’s navy, after the U.S. Department of the Interior posted that its “advanced nanobubbler technology very effectively killed the algae that has plagued every Lincoln Reflecting Pool reopening—most infamously Obama’s reopening—since 1922.”

“When President Donald Trump sat down for an interview in March with New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan for their new book, he showed them a document arguing he was more powerful than some of the most feared and treacherous leaders in history — including Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan, Napoleon, Stalin, Mao, and Hitler”

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The Guardian reported that after Donald Trump ordered a $14.2m refurbishment to turn the monument “American Flag blue,” parts of the coating laid by Atlantic Industrial Coatings appeared to start peeling off, with workers seen in waders trying to fish out algae and eliminate deep green patches.

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The Hill said the Interior Department’s press team wrote on X that “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,” drawing a direct parallel to “the destroyed Iranian Navy resting on the bottom of the Persian Gulf.”

Newsweek described the same Interior Department comparison as a pairing of “a routine maintenance project with a serious and deadly military conflict,” while noting that recent images showed the water still appearing green.

In the same reporting cycle, the Interior Department spokesperson told the Washington Examiner that “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,” framing the bloom as part of a “normal startup process.”

Spectrum News said the remodeled Reflecting Pool’s “American flag blue” bottom turned chartreuse from an algal bloom just days after its more than $14 million renovation, as National Park Service employees and contractors deployed chemicals and ozone nanobubbles Tuesday.

The Washington Examiner reported that photos showed National Park Service employees combating algae by dumping gallons of hydrogen peroxide into the bright green pool, and it quoted the Interior Department’s post about “The advanced nanobubbler technology very effectively killed the algae.”

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The Hill added that a spokesperson said workers are using hydrogen peroxide to treat the pool, with “no harmful side effects” to marine life or the environment, and it said the nanobubble technology was tested and validated by NOAA, The Ohio State University and The University of Florida.

Gizmodo said workers were seen on Wednesday dumping bottles of hydrogen peroxide into the pool, while the Interior Department insisted the algae was a product of “dormant supply lines during eight weeks of construction.”

The Hill also described a federal contract costing more than $1.7 million between the Interior Department and Green Water Solutions, saying the nanobubble technology injects ozone-impregnated nanobubbles to create oxidizing agents that bind to toxins and organic contaminants.

The Guardian said the reflecting pool has been one element of Trump’s efforts to recondition Washington during his second term, and it tied the algae battle to the administration’s broader claims about the renovation’s success.

Newsweek reported that the Interior Department’s post described the cleanup’s final stage as vacuuming up 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,” while also noting that aerial views showed water still appearing green.

CNN en Español framed the Iran deal as potentially weakening the United States’ position ahead of “the crucial 60-day talks,” and it said the deal risks “cede[ing] almost all U.S. leverage and grant[ing] Iran billions of dollars in upfront revenue.”

Gizmodo linked the algae cleanup narrative to the same administration’s Iran diplomacy, saying Trump signed a memorandum of understanding Wednesday that opens the Strait of Hormuz for 60 days while the U.S. and Iran negotiate a real deal on Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

In the same set of reporting, the LiveNOW from FOX segment said the proposed peace agreement with Iran reportedly could include “a framework for a $300 billion reconstruction and economic development package” and “a 60-day negotiation period to get a final agreement on Iran's nuclear program.”