Reflecting Pool starts to stink after Trump orders it drained: DC photographer

The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has a new problem: it's reportedly starting to smell.

Washington, D.C., freelance photographer Joe Flood posted a photo on X on Monday of the pool being actively drained. "As they drain it, the Reflecting Pool is starting to smell," he wrote.

President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social on Saturday that the pool would "probably be forced to release and drain much of the water in order to do the necessary repairs."

The drain order came after a $14 million no-bid renovation cratered almost immediately. Workers painted the pool bottom "American flag blue" — then algae bloomed within days, turning the water green and sending the new paint peeling off in strips.

Trump blamed unnamed vandals, without offering evidence. United States Park Police separately arrested David Carter Hearn, 67, a three-time Olympic canoeist who says he stopped at the site out of curiosity and reached down to touch a piece of peeling paint. He was charged with misdemeanor destruction of government property.

"I was just a curious, concerned citizen," Hearn told the Washington Post. "I guess I was there at the wrong place, wrong time."

Scientists weren't surprised by the algae. National Public Radio reported that the pool's dark new surface absorbs more sunlight, warming the water and creating ideal conditions for blooms.