During a failed $16.4 million effort to repaint the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool with “American Flag Blue” for the U.S. semiquincentennial, the water reportedly turned into a green mess of algae, slime, and floating polyurethane, with a dead duck also found. President Donald Trump, without providing evidence, blamed the condition on vandals who he said had “put fertilizer in the water” and damaged the pool with a blade. The renovation was handled by a no-bid contractor, and experts cited heat, bird waste, and phosphates as natural causes. The episode is part of broader criticism over Trump’s costly, self-focused renovations to the White House and surrounding landmarks.