The president of the United States, Donald Trump, has blamed vandals for the failure that has occurred his project to renovate the National Mall pond, the park surrounded by the main monuments of the capital. His ill-fated idea of converting the pool that extends between the imposing monument dedicated to Abraham Lincoln and the obelisk to George Washington into a mirror where the emblematic monuments would be reflected in a blue color in the style of the American flag, ended up becoming a pond where ducks avoid the accumulation of greenish algae and pieces of paint loosened from the bottom. Several people were arrested over the weekend and others were issued summonses for allegedly vandalizing the pond.
“Of the MANY statues and fountains that we rebuilt, renovated, cleaned and repaired, the only one that was vandalized was the Reflecting Pond; the matter is already being addressed with the greatest urgency!”, the president wrote on his Truth social network this Monday. And he issued a warning: “Please remember that there is a penalty of ten years in prison for the destruction—or even attempted destruction—of such items; a penalty that will be strictly applied!”
The tenant of the White House is not known for assuming failures. That the pond that was going to become one of the most photographed postcards of celebrating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence The fact that it ended in a fiasco, the object of ridicule, did not sit well with him. During the weekend, agents from various police forces, including members of the Park Police and federal marshals (US Marshals), monitored visitors who looked at the failed pool as if it were a tourist attraction. At least five people were arrested and many others received summonses. Accused of vandalism, for supposedly chipping the paint from the pond, several of them declared to local media that they had only collected pieces that floated on the surface.
There were those who grabbed the flakes of the intense blue paint as if it were a souvenir; others argued that their intention was to remove floating trash that emerged from the bottom of the pond.
One of the arrested people, cyclist and former US Olympic athlete David Hearn, now faces a charge of property damage, according to reports. The Washington Post. Park Police officers patrolling the Lincoln Memorial area Friday afternoon observed an individual removing paint from the pond, a department spokesperson said in an email.
In an interview with ThePost, Hearn said he stopped by the pond during a bike ride on Friday and reached out to touch a piece of the new liner that had partially peeled off the bottom. He claimed that he did not cause any damage. “I did not commit acts of vandalism,” Hearn declared. “I didn’t destroy, break or tear anything. By the time I realized what was happening, they were already handcuffing me,” he told the newspaper.
The renovation of the pond, which Trump proudly announced as part of his purpose to “beautify” the nation’s capital before they begin 4th of July celebrations, It has been controversial from the beginning. The Administration awarded the works to a company that, according to Trump, had worked on the pools at one of his golf clubs, evading bidding laws. The works cost 14 million dollars and were completed in six weeks, in time to become the postcard that the president wanted. The blue of the background would symbolize the United States flag and the monuments that surround it would be reflected on the surface, similar to a mirror in the crystal clear waters. On June 3, he announced the completion of the renovation work. “It will be the first time since its construction in 1922 that the pond works, and it will do so in a magnificent way,” he published on his social network.
A few days later, the accumulation of algae turned the water green and the president was quick to call the cause “disgraceful vandalism,” stating that corrosive chemicals had been dumped, causing the largest accumulation of aquatic plants in years. Trump also said that saboteurs had breached the facade, although this could not be proven.
Experts, however, have pointed out that the renovation did not correct the problems that the pond had had for years, such as broken pipes and leaks. Instead, they applied temporary solutions such as adding hydrogen peroxide to the water to try to eliminate the algae. The peeling off of the blue paint, which has exposed the concrete that covers it in some areas, may also be due to the fact that the waterproofing was not carried out correctly and problems persist under the coating.
At the moment, the renovation of the pond, which measures about 620 meters long by about 50 meters wide, seems far from guaranteeing crystal clear waters for a hundred years, as Trump announced, but in some way it has become a postcard. Tourists come to photograph it, not because it reflects the historical monuments that represent the greatness of the country, but because of the turbulence of the waters that cloud the image of the most symbolic area of its capital.
