Trump's $14.7 Million "American Flag Blue" Paint Is Peeling Off the Reflecting Pool and Floating to the Surface — The Hydrogen Peroxide They Used May Have Caused It — Workers Are Draining Algae Water into Storm Drains — Tourists Are Grabbing Paint Chips as Souvenirs

Two weeks after the renovation was completed, the "American Flag Blue" coating applied to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is peeling off the bottom and floating to the surface. CNN observed a flap of blue material partially detached and rising toward the top. ABC News found a 3x3-foot section visibly detached and floating. A research paper by Polish chemical engineers found hydrogen peroxide is an active ingredient in paint-remover formulations — meaning the H2O2 workers poured in to kill algae may have caused the paint to peel off. Workers set up tubing to siphon algae-contaminated water directly into storm drains — but the pool's NPDES discharge permit was terminated in 2023, and discharges are supposed to go to the sanitary sewer, raising potential Clean Water Act violation questions. By Friday, tourists were reaching into the pool and grabbing peeling paint chips as souvenirs — taking pieces of the $14.7 million project home with them. Getty Images published photos showing rips in the sealant. The pool is being partially drained — again. Eddie Wood, owner of Atlantic Industrial Coatings, was shown photos and said they don't provide enough information "to tell exactly what that is." In April, Trump said he would clean up the pool "within a week" for "about $1 million." Three months and $16+ million later: the pool is green, the paint is peeling, workers are draining algae water into storm drains, tourists are collecting the debris, and the two miles of broken pipes remain unfixed.

First it turned green. Now it's falling apart.

The "American Flag Blue" coating that President Trump personally ordered applied to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool — at a cost that has ballooned to $14.7 million — is peeling off the bottom of the pool and floating to the surface. The pool was refilled two weeks ago.

What reporters found

CNN observed on Thursday, June 18:

A flap of blue material that was partially attached to the bottom in one area of the pool and floating toward the top.

ABC News found a section of the newly installed liner measuring approximately 3 feet by 3 feet that was visibly detached and floating, with one end still adhered to the pool floor, located at the middle portion of the north side.

Getty Images published photographs showing a tear in the sealant and portions of the blue coating floating on the surface.

When ABC News visited the pool Thursday afternoon, they found it "filled with gunk and green algae-infused water."

The contractor's response

Shown pictures and videos of the peeling material, Eddie Wood, owner of Atlantic Industrial Coatings — the no-bid contractor — said:

"The images do not provide enough information to tell exactly what that is."

He said there are "several things they need to address when they come back for maintenance" and any such issues "will be dealt with if they are a problem."

The Department of the Interior did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the peeling.

A reminder of this contractor's qualifications:

Atlantic Industrial Coatings had never held a federal contract before
Its website describes its specialty as waterproofing highway culverts, pipes, roofs, and industrial storage tanks — no mention of pool work
Its prior pool work: Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia
The company was allowed to start work before agreeing on a price
Documents show the company failed to properly seal the concrete gaps twice during the renovation — workers had to remove material and start over
A Park Service internal analysis found a 20% profit margin, double the federal norm, charging taxpayers at least $850,000 more than a standard contract

Pool experts noted that when coatings peel like this, it's typically caused by improper surface preparation, improper application, or water chemistry imbalance — the classic trinity of failure. All three are the contractor's responsibility.

But there may be a fourth explanation, and it is darkly funny: a research paper by Polish chemical engineers found that hydrogen peroxide is an active ingredient in paint-remover formulations. The workers poured hydrogen peroxide into the pool to kill the algae. The hydrogen peroxide may have stripped the paint off the bottom. The cure for one problem may have caused the next one.

Draining algae into storm drains

Workers set up a tubing system to siphon contaminated water out of the pool and directly into storm drains. This raises environmental questions:

The pool's NPDES permit (DC0000370) — the federal permit that previously authorized discharges from the pool — was terminated on June 7, 2023
After the permit's termination, discharges from the Reflecting Pool were supposed to go to the sanitary sewer, not storm drains
The water being siphoned contains hydrogen peroxide, dead algae, E. coli, and whatever other contaminants had accumulated
Storm drains in Washington, D.C., drain to the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay watershed — not to a treatment facility

The Interior Department said the hydrogen peroxide would have "no harmful side effects to marine life or to the environment." They did not address whether discharging chemically treated water into storm drains without an active NPDES permit complies with the Clean Water Act.

Tourists taking souvenirs

By Friday, June 19, people were reaching into the pool and grabbing peeling paint chips as souvenirs — taking pieces of the $14.7 million project home with them. One man, pulling a chunk of blue paint from the water, announced: "This is my taxpayer souvenir."

Getty Images published photos showing rips in the sealant applied to the bottom of the pool.

The pool is now being partially drained again — roughly two weeks after it was refilled.

The timeline of failure

The full sequence:

April 2026: Trump says he'll clean up the pool "within a week" for "about $1 million"
May 7: Trump's motorcade drives across the drained pool so he can inspect the blue paint. He brags: "It never had the color people wanted, but now it's going to have the great color"
June 6: Trump posts "All work is complete!" with a photo of the "very complex, but powerful, Dark Blue surface" and "CLEAN, BEAUTIFUL WATER"
June 8: Pool refilled with 6.5 million gallons of water
June 9: One day later — algae turns the pool green
June 10-13: Workers scoop algae with nets. It returns. The pool is chartreuse
June 16: White House posts photo showing pool as blue. The pool is green. Workers begin dumping gallon bottles of hydrogen peroxide into it. One worker says cleaning it could take "an entire lifetime"
June 17: $1.7 million "ozone nanobubbler" deployed. Pool remains green
June 18: The paint starts peeling off and floating to the surface. Rips appear in the sealant
June 19: Workers drain algae water into storm drains. Tourists grab paint chips as souvenirs. Pool is being partially drained again

Eleven days. From "CLEAN, BEAUTIFUL WATER" to tourists collecting debris from a green, peeling, partially drained pool.

The cost

The budget has now gone through eight figures:

Trump's initial estimate: $1 million, one week
Revised estimate: $1.8 million
First contract award to Atlantic Industrial Coatings (no-bid): $6.9 million
Contract increase: $13.1 million
Latest contract summary: $14.7 million
Second no-bid contract to Greenwater Services (Trump donor's firm): $1.7 million
Total: over $16 million

The president said $1 million. It is now $16 million. The pool is green. The paint is peeling. The pipes are broken. Both contractors are connected to Trump. Neither was selected through competitive bidding.

What was supposed to happen vs. what happened

Trump said	What happened
"About $1 million"	$16+ million
"Within a week"	Three months
"The great color"	Green with algae
"CLEAN, BEAUTIFUL WATER"	"Gunk and green algae-infused water"
"Very complex, but powerful, Dark Blue"	Peeling off and floating to the surface
"All work is complete!"	Workers draining algae water into storm drains

The Reflecting Pool was designed with a grey basin for a reason. The grey created the mirror-like reflection the pool is named for. Historians called it a "character-defining feature" — "it was the design." The president looked at a century of architectural intent and said: paint it blue. The blue turned green. They poured chemicals in to fix it. The chemicals may have stripped the paint. The paint is now floating. Tourists are collecting it. Workers are draining the remains into storm drains that flow to the Potomac. And the pool is being drained — again.

In April, Trump said he would clean up the pool within a week for about $1 million. It is now late June. The cost is over $16 million. Both contractors got the work without competitive bids. One previously worked at Trump's golf club. The other is owned by a Trump donor who admitted to bribing a congressman. The two miles of broken pipes underneath — the actual cause of the problem — remain untouched, scheduled for "the fall." Marine biologist Christopher Lowe warned that fully preventing algae "is not viable," as it re-enters through birds, wind, and existing pipe systems.

This is the pool the president drove across to brag about. This is what $16 million of no-bid contracts buys you. Tourists are now walking away with pieces of it in their pockets.