Despite costly renovations touted by President Donald Trump, the Reflecting Pool is already dirtied with a layer of green muck.
According to reporting by Politico, workers are struggling to remove algae from the surface of the Reflecting Pool. Layers of algae keep floating to the top of the World War II Memorial side of the Reflecting Pool, Politico reported.
An Interior Department spokesperson told Politico that the algae is "residual" from supply lines that were dormant for eight weeks during the renovations and excused it as a normal part of the startup.
Water began refilling the landmark pool's basin last week, after Trump announced it from the Oval Office, ABC News reported. The president boasted that the pool would also be repainted to a deep shade he calls "American flag blue" last week, all in preparation for his highly anticipated celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States.
Workers were seen cleaning the Reflecting Pool earlier this week, but algae continued to show up, Politico reported. The problem of algae was expected, according to earlier reporting by the New York Times.
The multi-million dollar renovations of the Reflecting Pool were carried out in part through a questionable no-bid contract to a contractor who Trump described as his "pool guy" despite having no pool experience, the Times reported.
Trump bragged that he would clean the "filthy" and "dirty" Reflecting Pool as renovations began in April, Politico noted.