Bulwark Takes - LIVE: Peeling Paint and Green Water at Trump's "Renovated" Reflecting Pool

Episode Date: June 18, 2026

Sam Stein, Brendan Hartnett and Sarah Matthews are going live to cover the mess at Trump's renovated Reflecting Pool.

All right, everybody. We are live. This is Sam Stein. I'm with Sarah Matthews and Brendan Hartnett. We are live at the reflecting pool. I know this seems a little bit weird to be live at the reflecting pool, but there is actual weird breaking news from the reflecting pool. And since we're all obsessed with the story, at least I am, looks like there's pieces of paint. The coating that we put on the pool seems to be coming apart. Brendan, what can you tell us? Yeah, so we just did a little lap around here and we found what is the biggest slice of blue paint coming off? pool uh fortunately we have some tongs courtesy of bulwark hq and we're going to rip it out and see what happens all right go rip it out sarah you hold this while he rips it out brend go to the pool let's get a camera on brenden as he goes and if we can get an image of him pulling it out of the pool i would love to see it okay yeah sounds good i was like he is walking over

right we've got some competing everyone's here covering it people are uh coming and getting footage of the uh paint peeling and so let's Yeah, a little bit of a turf war happening, but lots of media coverage of this because, I mean, it is kind of insane to think $14 million no-bid contract. And what in a week or two, the paint is already peeling. The color is green. I mean, it's just as green as the Chicago River on St. Patrick's Day. And it just keeps getting worse, it seems like. But, yeah, there's pretty big chunks of paint that are peeling off that Brendan's going to try to get.

And so that way we can take a look at it. But, yeah, the American flag blue. I guess it wasn't that blue because it's still pretty green. But I guess if you think about it, we saw the images of them and the videos of them pouring hydrogen peroxide into the water this week trying to counteract the algae. And one would think that maybe that has something to do with why the paint is now peeling. Well, get into that.

I'm not a scientist or anything like that, but I did look up that hydrogen peroxide can be used as a stripping formula. so you can get paint removed and coatings removed like this. You can hear Jonathan Carl in the background right now from ABC doing this thing. Brendan, take the mic for a second, because you actually saw the chunk of paint that was removed. So just to be, let me walk us through. Is it clear that it's actually the paint, the blue paint from the coating that they applied? Oh, yeah.

I started pulling on it and half of it started coming up. I think as soon as we grab it and give it a good yank, the whole thing is going to come out. And hopefully not ruin this white shirt, but we'll say. But it's definitely the coating, right? Oh, it's like the paint. There's texture to it. It feels like on a cheaper pool, how the floor kind of cut your feet after a while. That's what it feels like.

And how many pieces of floating paint do you see or is it just loose now? You know, it seems like they keep getting taken out as soon as they're up. But we've seen maybe two or three, much smaller than this one. What do you mean to get taken out? There's workers there who are removing it? So yeah, we have down there and also closer to the Lincoln National Parks employees who are currently scraping the pool and seemingly sucking up the debris coming off of it. And so it seems like once it comes up and starts floating to the surface, they get it removed. So we haven't seen as many as they were reported to be earlier this morning.

But there's been a few, just not nearly as big as this giant one. Okay. How many were reported this morning? There were tons of pictures everywhere of just like loose paint coming up all across the three. reflecting pool, especially puddling up in the corners. And Sarah, give us a sense of how, like, how many workers are there and what kind of work they're actually doing to make sure that it doesn't look totally ridiculous. Yeah, there are dozens of workers, both in the water and surrounding the pool, lots of little

carts. And yeah, people just, as we see, as we see, they're trying to just peel up, I think, the chunks of paint. I think they saw, if I had to guess, they saw the media reports. And then it seems like some of the other workers are focused on the algae part of it as well in removing that. And I just have to laugh at it because, I mean, $14 million already spent and how much more are they spending in resources now to try to get the algae out, to try to get the peeling paint chunks out? And what this kind of, I think, goes back to is that they didn't fix the initial problem with the system, which is the filtration system. And it seems like Trump just wanted to slap this blue paint on before actually fixing the underlying problem.

and now it's just getting worse and compounding. And maybe people in the comment section can help me out here because, you know, was pouring hydrogen peroxide to kill the algae responsible for, in fact, destroying the blue coating on the bottom? And is there any way to fix that if you don't just drain the reflecting pool once again to try and recode it? And if you record it, don't you just end up in the same exact problem that we're dealing? with. It does seem like a mess. In terms of the algae, Sarah, you said it was green. We had seen

images where the green have been contained into the middle. Is that still the case or is it more spread out now? Yeah, no, that's still the case. We saw some overhead images in the last couple of days after they poured the hydrogen peroxide that it was killing all the algae on the perimeter, but then the green was still in the middle. And that still kind of seems to be the case. It's definitely not as green as it was the last few days. And it does seem like the hydrogen peroxide is working a little bit. But I think that they're going to have to keep pouring

gallons and gallons and gallons. But they can't because it's stripping the paint. That's the problem. Exactly. Exactly. And this is why they shouldn't have painted it, I think, before actually fixing the underlying issue. But, you know, I'm not. Let's get Brendan. Let's get Brendan. You can do it now. Okay. Follow the camera, Brendan. Yeah,

well, don't dip your mic in the water, buddy. Hold on. I got it. Get that sir out of the way. Get this guy out of the way. Thank you. Okay, here we go. Yeah, just one second. One second. All right, Brandon, go ahead, Ben. Ready?

Yeah, please don't. Yeah, let's see. All right, we're just taking a look at what's in here. So that is part of the... He's not ripping the whole thing up, guys. He's not ripping the whole thing up. Don't worry. We're trying to get a visual.

Okay, so that's good. So that's the bottom of the pool that is now coming off. Okay. You can draw, you can hold there. Okay. That's okay. Let's take that. Take that put in your trash bag. Okay. That looks like, clearly like part of the reflecting pool coding. And it seems to be flapping like a dead bird's wing in the water. Speaking of dead animals. Oh, there it is. Look at that. That's definitely coding.

Yeah. Oh, my God. What a mess. What a mess. How big, Brandon, how big was that piece if you had to guess? It's got to be, I mean, I kept like just pulling and it keep coming up. It's got to be at least two or three feet long and maybe like two feet wide. Jesus. Are you going to get in trouble for ripping up federal property? Do we need to lawyer up for this?

But also, I think we're probably more in trouble with legacy media. So, you know, but yeah. Okay. Now, we also brought a shirt. Is that right? We did bring a shirt. And why don't we move a little bit? down there for this.

Okay. So we can get out of everybody's shot. All right, let's get out of people's shot. Let's take a look. So here we have, I don't know what that is, a light, something like that. So we're like, what, halfway down the reflecting pool here? Yeah, about the midpoint. Where is the algae mostly congregating?

Is that one end? In the middle. So down towards the Lincoln Memorial, the pool does seem a little bit bluer, especially today compared to past days. I don't know. You walked on the other side. How was the other side? The other side looked a little bit more blue.

Yeah, I met them over here, but I was originally over on that side and walked all the way around the perimeter. And it definitely looked a little bit more blue than it does over here. Over here, we can really see the algae up rising to the top. Can we get a little close up here? Can we get that camera a little close? I can start to see it. Let's see. Oh, man.

Yeah, you can easily see it. Wow. Okay. That's real. So we want to look at the water. quality though and that's why we brought that the shirt yeah we're going to do this okay let's dip the shirt just go halfway down this is going to be a little tie-dye experiment you can get you can get in the store you can get in the store if you want we're not going to sell the algae

drained one okay so let's say it's a little windy it's a little hard to get it underneath but yeah we're going to dip it halfway so we can compare the results all right this is great you guys. First ever bowlwork my teacher contest. Now,

okay, so we're, let's make sure that we don't harm that. Maybe we should put that in the bag too

so that the wind and the elements don't affect it. Yeah. And then we're going to check in, we're going to

check in a couple days to see how just how stain the shirt is. Now, Brendan, I don't want to reveal too much,

but you have been collecting water samples for a couple days now. Talk a little bit about how many days you've been there and how much you've collected. Yes, I was down here on Monday. We collected our first batch. That was when the story had first been breaking about just how algae covered the pool was. It was pretty bad. We didn't find any, we didn't find many chemicals in the water at that point, but we did find that the pH was off the charts, which is typical for algae. And came back yesterday, took another sample. I will say it was a little. clearer, actually. You could even see just from the water bottle itself. But we'll probably

do another one while we're here today. If you want, I can actually do that right now. But yeah, maybe it's getting better. Who knows? But I mean, at the same time, it's like a foot of stagnant water in the middle of a swamp in the heat of summer. I feel like, you know, I could have saved you $14 million by telling you it was going to accumulate algae no matter what happened. Yeah, there's a Washington Post piece up today. I'm not. just going to read from it. We'll talk a little bit about why people care about the poll in a second, because I don't want people to think we're like hyperventilating about something that's relatively minor.

There is something important to, and I'll make my case. But let me first read from the Washington Post piece. The title is, Reflecting Pool Algae Bloom is one of the biggest recorded in years after a $14 million renovation. And the lead is this. Days after the completion this month of a $14 million renovation, the shallow water in the Lincoln Memorial's Reflecting Pool has a, has had more algae in it than at any recorded point in the month of June for at least five years according to specialized analysis of satellite data.

So according to the Post, this has been, we've made it worse than at any point in five years. All right. So now why do we care about this? And Sarah, you can tell me if I'm crazy or you can make your own point. But I don't care that much. And I don't really think it's that big a deal. for the fact that Trump himself held this up as emblematic of leadership failures by every other president who could have resolved this issue, but lacked the fortitude and the insight and the

creativity and the business know-how to get it done for much less money and much quicker amount of time. And then he went and did it without any of the usual procedures or followings. He did a no big contract. $14 million is not nothing, but it's not a lot. But it's the it's the gall it's the arrogance and it's the fact that he made it a big deal which means that we should cover it that at least is my case no i'm right there with you i really don't give a shit about the reflecting pool and i think people can agree that it needed some sort of renovation and um repairing but the thing is is that trump is the one who made this into this uh wedge issue and he was holding up these silly posters at the oval office during press conferences comparing the size of

the reflecting pool to skyscrapers. I mean, what are we doing here? He's trying to act like this is some great national achievement that because he's the one to fix it. But in fact, like, I'm right here looking at it. It looks a lot worse than it did before at the start of this. And he wasted $14 million in taxpayer money. But I think my issue with it is this no bid contract, because at the end of the day, we can agree, sure, it needed to be fixed. But then why are we giving it to one of his business partners? He basically gave this contract to one of his pool guys. And that's why I think we're having so many issues. And I think that there needs to be some sort of investigation into this,

maybe when the house switches and Dems take control, you know, if that happens in November. But I think that there needs to be some sort of investigation why this was a no-bid contract. Trump tried to claim it was some urgent issue that needed addressing. But this seems like something that maybe could have waited until after the summer, considering the heat in D.C. I mean, anyone has ever been to DC during the summertime, it gets hot and humid here. And so it's no surprise that the algae is the level it is. And it seems like this could have been a project that waited until they fixed the filtration system

because that's the real underlying issue here. Well, okay, and just to that point, the U.S. Interior Department put out a bleat the other day. It was actually yesterday. Here we have it. The photos below show how the nanoblobubber technology, and vacuuming have been incredibly effective, making the water crystal clear, with the American flag blue coating shining brightly on the bottom of the pool. There's another tree where they put out the advanced nanoblater technology very effectively killed the algae and has plagued every

Lincoln Reflecting Pool reopening most infamously. Obama's reopening since 1922. The Reflected Pool water is crystal clear. The National Park Service team is now vacuuming up the dead algae, resting on the bottom of some parts of the reflecting pool, just like the destroyed Iranian Navy resting on the the bottom of the Persian Gulf. I guess in this metaphor analogy, the blue paint coating is now the Iranian Navy where bits and pieces of it are resting at the bottom waiting to float up. But it's just kind of arrogance and hubris, right? That sort of is the reason why we cover this stuff. Because they're basically asking you, Brendan, to just kind of not believe what your own eyes are seeing. And frankly, I found myself sometimes wondering if this is real. So for instance,

this morning when we first started seeing pictures of that blue paint coating, coming undone, I just assumed that was bullshit. I honestly, I couldn't believe it. And so that's why we sent Brendan down there to check it out. And it's true. He just pulled a chunk out himself. You can actually, if you want to turn around the camera, it is blowing out of the water right now, the chunk of pain. Let's see.

Get to it. There we go. It's popping up. It's like a little lock-ass monster. Get closer. I can't see it. Right. Oh, yeah, I see it.

Popping up like a little, yeah. Oh, my God. Yeah. Can we get a little closer maybe? I don't know if it's possible. We got that guy doing some real photography work right there. Yeah, we've created the- Brandon.

Brendan, you move out of the way, get the camera closer to there. Oh, look at it. Like a wing, just kind of coming out, like a fin. Oh, my God. Wow. There it is, folks. That's the underbelly of the,

of the reflecting pool that's now popped up. Now, I will say, you know, Brendan said, like, this is not an isolated incident. So you can imagine the administration is going to come and say, I don't know, someone, like, ripped it up and was vandalizing this. And this is just one part. And we got to, like, you know, deal with vandals. And that's unfortunate. But this seems to be more, I don't know, epidemic or it's happening other places. So this does seem like the beginning of the problem, too.

Um, it definitely, I'll give them credit. It is American flag blue. Yeah. Right? No, I think, you know, you got to call balls and strikes. And I do think it's fair to say that that is a little American flag blue. Uh, yeah, I'll give them that. Yeah, okay, good, good for them.

Uh, one note, I'm not, again, I'm not an expert on this stuff, but, uh, AI tells me that hydrogen peroxite pay removers are non-toxic, eco-friendly stripping formulas that utilize highly concentrated hydrogen peroxy to break down tough coatings like polyurethane and epoxy. They're highly favored for being biodegradable, low order, and free of harsh chemicals. So they did apply what appears to be a paint remover, but to their credit, they did it in potentially some eco-friendly ways. But they probably should have thought this one through. All right, guys. Is there any other final thoughts before I let you go? Because I don't want, like, Janine Piro and the cops to come down and arrest you for ripping up that paint. I mean, I feel like Judge Box of Wine would be fun to hang out with, even if I'm...

No, don't. Don't tap the, do not check the face. Quick water sample. One more time. Okay. Are you going to take a swing of it or no? No. Not this time, no.

Okay, let's not. There's like chunks of paint in there, so let's not do that. Yeah. Let's just say. Okay, here we go. Let's do a little water sample. A small. All right.

Here we go. That is the clearest it has looked this week. I got a hand it to them. It was a way worse earlier. Okay. So they're doing a good job. I'm going to give them credit. They are cleaning it up, and the hydrogen peroxide seems to have had an effect.

And whatever the nanoblubber technology is that they're using, it seems like it's helping. But then again, we did just take a shot of the insane allergy there. And unfortunately, one of the side effects of this hydrogen peroxide has been the paint coming off. So maybe not too much credit. Sarah, any final thoughts? I think, yes, can give credit where credits do that it does look less green. And the water does look a little bit more clear than the previous test. that Brendan did. But at the same time, what is the plan here long term? Are we just going to keep

pouring gallons of hydrogen peroxide into the pool? No, we can't. We can't because the paint's coming up. We got to figure out another system here. What is nanoblobubber technology, Sarah? You know, I couldn't tell you. You got to tell me you have me stumped on that one. Let us know in the problem. Okay, they keep mentioning nanoblobubber technology. I'm like, that sounds, doesn't sound real, but maybe it is real. It's not my not my forte. All right, guys. stay safe down there. Don't get caught. Stealing little pits of paint. Come back. We'll get it tested. And look, for the folks in the comments, we're still on this storyline. We're going to keep following it.

Brennan's collecting water constantly. He's got two main stories he's following. The tarps over the Kennedy Center and the reflecting pole. This is the hard-hitting journalism you get at the bulwark. Sarah, Brendan, thanks so much, guys. For those who watch and commented, thanks so much for this breaking news segment. Talk to you soon.