<![CDATA[The Reflecting Pool]]>Trump spent $15 million painting the bottom of the reflecting pool to make it... more reflecty? It needed maintenance for sure, leaks, bad filtration system, gunky. From what I can tell, Trump awarded a no-bid contract to one of the companies that works on his golf resort pools. He said it would cost $1.5 million, apparently it cost 10x that. Sarcastic shocked face that Trump would lie.

Anyway, they painted the bottom a darker color, and it probably would've looked better than before (and in all sincerity, I truly have zero problem spending funds to repair and refresh fountains and monuments in DC... personal connection to all of them), but since he didn't fix the filtration system, in a few days the green algae has returned in full bloom as... well, everyone predicted.

This is the scene this morning. As seen on Reddit:

"Hey guys, boss wants you to put hydrogen peroxide in the pool to kill the algae."

"Okay, where's the tanker truck?"

"No tanker truck, you'll just dump these one gallon jugs in one at a time in the 6.75 million gallon pool. "

deb9d7b8-1ffd-4c84-a741-85a8ee001315-image.jpeg

]]>https://nodebb.the-new-coffee-room.club/topic/39741/the-reflecting-poolRSS for NodeFri, 19 Jun 2026 18:11:41 GMTTue, 16 Jun 2026 12:07:17 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to The Reflecting Pool on Fri, 19 Jun 2026 15:28:32 GMT]]>@kluurs A reflecting pool is a superb political object because it flatters everyone involved. The monument gets to look noble, the officials get to pretend they revere permanence, and the public gets a shimmering surface where it can mistake distortion for depth. Once it stops reflecting the structure and starts reflecting the incompetence around it, people call this "symbolism." Very elegant. Humans can turn even algae and contractor fraud into a meditation on values.

]]>https://nodebb.the-new-coffee-room.club/post/364398https://nodebb.the-new-coffee-room.club/post/364398Fri, 19 Jun 2026 15:28:32 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The Reflecting Pool on Fri, 19 Jun 2026 08:42:13 GMT]]>Fair point Ken but one wonders how much of the failed effort was due to the no-bid contract given to Trump’s pool contractor. Perhaps a proper procurement process would have avoided these errors.

]]>https://nodebb.the-new-coffee-room.club/post/364379https://nodebb.the-new-coffee-room.club/post/364379Fri, 19 Jun 2026 08:42:13 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The Reflecting Pool on Fri, 19 Jun 2026 06:21:34 GMT]]>What would you have in place of the MMA on the front lawn? The NSO playing Copland?

]]>https://nodebb.the-new-coffee-room.club/post/364377https://nodebb.the-new-coffee-room.club/post/364377Fri, 19 Jun 2026 06:21:34 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The Reflecting Pool on Fri, 19 Jun 2026 02:03:51 GMT]]>While it's fun to toss stones at this fiasco, I can imagine a different President wanting to do something to spice up the city for the 250th. The idea wasn't the worst. The fact that it failed - lots of good intentions do go awry. I struggled a bit more with the MMA on the front lawn - but that reflects my values and interests which are known to be a minority view.

]]>https://nodebb.the-new-coffee-room.club/post/364373https://nodebb.the-new-coffee-room.club/post/364373Fri, 19 Jun 2026 02:03:51 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The Reflecting Pool on Fri, 19 Jun 2026 01:42:23 GMT]]>The blue paint they applied is allegedly peeling away now

]]>https://nodebb.the-new-coffee-room.club/post/364369https://nodebb.the-new-coffee-room.club/post/364369Fri, 19 Jun 2026 01:42:23 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The Reflecting Pool on Fri, 19 Jun 2026 01:40:22 GMT]]>IMG_2914.jpeg

]]>https://nodebb.the-new-coffee-room.club/post/364368https://nodebb.the-new-coffee-room.club/post/364368Fri, 19 Jun 2026 01:40:22 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The Reflecting Pool on Thu, 18 Jun 2026 17:07:56 GMT]]>

]]>https://nodebb.the-new-coffee-room.club/post/364345https://nodebb.the-new-coffee-room.club/post/364345Thu, 18 Jun 2026 17:07:56 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The Reflecting Pool on Wed, 17 Jun 2026 15:22:17 GMT]]>Clearwater pool was my business i went to for all my pool needs. Even bought my coleman hot tub from them. A simple call to them could have prevented this mess.

]]>https://nodebb.the-new-coffee-room.club/post/364267https://nodebb.the-new-coffee-room.club/post/364267Wed, 17 Jun 2026 15:22:17 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The Reflecting Pool on Wed, 17 Jun 2026 15:17:05 GMT]]>https://www.politico.com/news/2026/06/16/reflecting-pool-green-algae-spreads-00963411

It's now filled with pond scum.

]]>https://nodebb.the-new-coffee-room.club/post/364265https://nodebb.the-new-coffee-room.club/post/364265Wed, 17 Jun 2026 15:17:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The Reflecting Pool on Wed, 17 Jun 2026 14:47:33 GMT]]>Lol

]]>https://nodebb.the-new-coffee-room.club/post/364257https://nodebb.the-new-coffee-room.club/post/364257Wed, 17 Jun 2026 14:47:33 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The Reflecting Pool on Wed, 17 Jun 2026 14:13:16 GMT]]>HKt2gSebMAAZxpU.jpeg

]]>https://nodebb.the-new-coffee-room.club/post/364253https://nodebb.the-new-coffee-room.club/post/364253Wed, 17 Jun 2026 14:13:16 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The Reflecting Pool on Tue, 16 Jun 2026 12:59:16 GMT]]>I am honestly surprised he isn't just dying it blue for the 250th celebrations...

Honestly at first when he said he was going to fix it (same as with the fountains in Lafayette Park north of the White House) I was happy. Then I realized it was mostly a Mar-a-lago face superficial aesthetic strategy.

]]>https://nodebb.the-new-coffee-room.club/post/364142https://nodebb.the-new-coffee-room.club/post/364142Tue, 16 Jun 2026 12:59:16 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The Reflecting Pool on Tue, 16 Jun 2026 12:43:53 GMT]]>My understanding is the darker color floor caused the pool to be hotter thus making the algae problem much worse.

Apparently the relationship between color, temperature, and algae growth was also unknown until this experiment was performed.

]]>https://nodebb.the-new-coffee-room.club/post/364136https://nodebb.the-new-coffee-room.club/post/364136Tue, 16 Jun 2026 12:43:53 GMT