In Washington, the restoration of the mirror basin turns into a fiasco and Trump denounces “vandalism” without evidence

Blue-green, flaking and infested with algae: the setbacks of the water mirror of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington continue to undermine a project dear to Donald Trump, who on Sunday accused “crazy” to have it “vandalized”.

Since its renovation, this emblematic pool of the capital has encountered several problems. The blue paint applied to the bottom of the pool, at great expense, is crumbling. As for its color “blue flag”it favored the appearance of algae which quickly proliferated. These hiccups have reignited criticism around this project, estimated at around $14 million according to the American press, entrusted without a public call for tenders to a company that has already worked on one of the president’s golf clubs.

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Far from taking responsibility for the situation, Donald Trump has been incriminating alleged « saboteurs »multiplying messages on its Truth Social network. “Repair work on the seriously vandalized reflecting pool will begin immediately. I just inspected it and I could only say to myself (…) “Wow, who could have done such a thing? Sick people, crazy people!” »declared the American president on Sunday.

The day before, he had already declared on Truth Social that the National Park Police had “arrested several individuals for vandalizing our nation’s beautiful reflecting pool”before insisting a few hours later on the fact that “many other people” had been arrested.

On Monday, he again threatened hypothetical thugs on social networks. “Of all the many statues and fountains that we have rebuilt, renovated, cleaned and repaired, the only one to be vandalized is the pool, the American president was indignant. Remember that destroying or even attempting to destroy these things is punishable by ten years in prison – And it will be fully enforced! »

The National Park Service (NPS), which manages the work, did not confirm to AFP the arrests or the nature of the activities. « sabotage » mentioned by the president. Donald Trump accuses those he describes as “vandals” to have used “a kind of knife or blade” to cut the pelvis on “a length of 250 feet” (approximately 76 meters) and having dumped there “corrosive and destructive chemicals”without providing any proof.

Algae at the heart of the basin’s difficulties

Among those arrested was David Hearn, a former Olympic athlete who represented the United States in canoeing in 1992, 1996 and 2000. He told the Washington Post that he was on a bike ride when he stopped at the Lincoln Memorial to observe the renovations.

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“I reached out and was able to grab the end of that piece that was dangling, that piece that was already flaking off. It was still attached to the bottom. I didn’t take anything out.”he explained. The 67-year-old man claims to have then been surrounded by two National Guard soldiers then arrested by park police officers for damage to public property.

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On Friday, an AFP photographer saw workers pumping away fragments of blue paint as well as green algae. To try to restore crystal clear water to the basin, the NPS indicated that it had released hydrogen peroxide, while a nanobubble ozone system was deployed in recent days.

According to The Atlantic magazine, which analyzed samples from the basin, these treatments paradoxically favored the proliferation of another particularly aggressive species of green algae.

Despite the efforts of the NPS, the 610 m long basin must now be “emptied of a large part of its water in order to carry out the necessary repairs”wrote Donald Trump. A setback for the Republican president who still affirmed at the end of the week that “the problem would soon be resolved” and assured at the beginning of June that the materials used “could last a hundred years”.