{"id":736,"date":"2026-06-18T12:32:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T12:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?p=736"},"modified":"2026-06-18T12:32:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T12:32:13","slug":"congratulations-the-reflecting-pool-is-now-a-swamp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sanfranciscomovingguide.com\/?p=736","title":{"rendered":"Congratulations, the Reflecting Pool is now a swamp"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The one thing that Washington, D.C., has always had going for it is its beauty. The people who run America from this town have always been an unsightly bunch, but they\u2019ve done their nasty work in a city that has acquired, over the course of this country\u2019s lifespan, an aesthetic like no other. No other major American city looks as regally beautiful as D.C. You and I have to thank for this, but we also have a collection of national landmarks clustered in the center of the district that the aforementioned law was written to both protect and to showcase. The Capitol. The Lincoln Memorial. The Washington Monument. These are gorgeous edifices, ones designed to outlast old generations and to inspire newer ones. They are the best of D.C., and therefore the best of America.<\/p>

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And now here comes Donald Trump to f\u2014k it all up.<\/p><\/div>

Not content to let an army of UFC slobs desecrate the capital this past weekend, nor to personally oversee the physical ruination of the White House earlier this year, Trump has now decided to destroy the humble Reflecting Pool along the National Mall. You\u2019ve probably heard about the Reflecting Pool situation: how President Cronyism dished out a no-bid contract to renovate the pool earlier this spring to a company that had done work at his Virginia golf club, how the project came in over budget (big surprise), and how the results have turned out disastrously, with algae blooms overtaking the pool within moments of its unveiling.\u00a0<\/p><\/div>

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Because I\u2019m a rubbernecker by nature, on Tuesday I decided to head down to the National Mall to see the damage myself. Come with me now on a quick trip to a national treasure that has now become the world\u2019s dullest aquarium.<\/p><\/div>

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It\u2019s a gorgeous day to visit the mall. The weather outside is flawless and, because it\u2019s a Tuesday, tourist traffic is at a relative minimum. Normally, this would be an ideal day to sit by the Reflecting Pool and meditate on freedom, democracy and other quaint notions. But the second I make my way into the heart of the mall, between the Lincoln Memorial and the World War II Memorial, I see an expanse of wet, sickly green. Like the ocean on a bad day. I have never seen the Reflecting Pool look this ugly. Trump\u2019s goal with this renovation was to paint the bottom of the pool \u201cAmerican flag blue,\u201d an idiotic idea because this pool is specifically not supposed to be ANY color. Previous administrations have kept the water here clean and clear so that it can, you know, reflect, so that visitors could look into the pool\u2019s waters and see in it the royal blue sky, the wedding cake white clouds, the stately gray monument on the hill next door. You\u2019re not supposed to look into this pool and see anything but the surrounding splendor, your pretty little face included.<\/p><\/div>

When I look into the pool now, I see nothing but green murk. The algae is still here, and it\u2019s still defeating Trump\u2019s cleanup crews handily. One of those crews is working a corner of the pool near the Lincoln Memorial. They\u2019re all National Park Service staffers, overseen by Trump\u2019s metaphorical pool boy Doug Burgum. One of them orders the others, \u201cLet\u2019s get this hose in the water and be sure not to twist it.\u201d The hose is attached to a small, roving pool vacuum. It\u2019s not a fair fight, unkinked hose or no. Just a few weeks ago, Trump was bragging that this pool was \u201cbigger than skyscrapers.\u201d He even made a definitely scientifically accurate chart to prove the point. Turns out that hugeness can really bite you in the ass when your very large and strong pool has an infestation problem.<\/p><\/div>

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I walk along the esplanade, and more Park Service crews mar the view. I see a couple more vacuums. Even uglier, I see a number of hoses languishing in the pool, looking like the tentacles of some evil monster and spewing a white foam into the depths. These machines are presumably the \u201cnanobubblers\u201d that the Park Service, perhaps now helmed by Russell Wilson, claims have \u201csuccessfully destroyed the algae bloom.\u201d They have not. All they appear to be doing is troubling the water enough so that it has an even less reflective quality. I\u2019d have better odds seeing my reflection in a cinder block.<\/p><\/div>

I kneel by the pool and dip my hand into the water. Thankfully, my flesh doesn\u2019t instantly dissolve upon contact with it. I feel along the inside of the pool, and it\u2019s slimy to the touch. Six years ago, I bought our family an inflatable hot tub to stave off boredom during the COVID-19 pandemic, another Trump production. I didn\u2019t know anything about pool maintenance, so the water in that hot tub also turned green, and the insides of it were slimy in the exact same way the pool\u2019s insides are right now. I can be forgiven for my negligence back then, because I was a bored rookie. When you\u2019re the richest nation in world history, you don\u2019t deserve quite as much slack.<\/p><\/div>

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I take my hand out of the water and lick my fingers. The water tastes fine. If I end up hospitalized with diphtheria later tonight, my editors will update this post accordingly.<\/p>

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