President Donald Trump bragged endlessly about the ‘American Flag Blue’ color of the Reflecting Pool, and the speed with which the renovation took place, but a new report claims it is those two things that may have doomed the project from the start.
The company that carried out extensive repairs to the Reflecting Pool in 2010 turned down Trump’s renovation, CNN reported on Friday.
New Jersey-based Sika Corporation reportedly balked at the requirements that the work be completed by July 4 and that the bottom of the pool be blue.
Two employees with Sika Corporation, who spoke on the condition they not be identified, said both demands made the job “unfeasible,” the network said.
The revelation could raise more questions about why the work was completed the way it was, given that the administration was told by the company that had worked on the last big overhaul that it wouldn’t be possible.
Problems have plagued the Reflecting Pool since Trump’s renovations were completed.
Algae began to grow just days after the pool was refilled, and less than two weeks after the pool was finished, the blue coating began peeling in some areas.
Hydrogen peroxide poured into the pool to kill the algae could have caused the paint to lift, one theory held. Another is that Trump damaged the surface by driving the presidential motorcade over it after it had been painted but before it was filled.
The eyesore has become a tourist destination, with visitors flocking to see the lurid green water and peeling bottom.
Trump, 80, has lashed out at the public over the problems, claiming radical left activists have vandalized the pool, while providing no real evidence to back up his claims.
On Friday afternoon, he posted a photo on Truth Social of soldiers standing guard over the Reflecting Pool with the caption: “Good morning from the Pool!”
Police have arrested at least six people for vandalism over the past week and issued federal citations to at least seven others. One of the people arrested, three-time Olympian David Hearn, said he had simply touched plastic, which was already peeling off.
The contract for the renovations went to Trump’s pool guys under a no-bid contract that ballooned from $1.8 million to well over $14.7 million.
On Wednesday, Democrat Robert Garcia, the ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, issued letters to the contractors who carried out the renovations, asking for details on the costs, materials, and state of the renovations, calling the project Trump’s “latest failed vanity project.”
The Senate is also investigating.
Sika Corporation and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
