President Donald Trump is still having a hard time getting control of the disastrous Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovations.
Trump, 80, made cleaning up the popular landmark in Washington, D.C., one of his signature second-term beautification initiatives.
What began as an estimated $1.5 million project has ballooned to nearly ten times that amount, with work remaining ongoing as costs continue to rise.
Bypassing standard competitive bidding, the Interior Department in April issued multi-million-dollar no-bid contracts to politically linked firms to oversee the Reflecting Pool restoration.
Trump wanted the facelift completed by July 4th for his “Freedom 250” celebrations. Work at the site was fast-tracked, but by the end of June that project was already being deemed a fiasco.
A coat of “American flag blue” coloring was added to the pool’s floor and contractors overhauled the water system, but both modifications failed miserably.
The blue coating began to peel off and float to the surface as algae blooms turned the pool a murky green.
Atlantic Industrial Coatings was awarded $14.7 million to paint the pool’s floor, while Green Water Solutions was awarded $1.7 million to install a new water-purification system.
According to government data, the administration granted an additional $2.7 million to American Ag Energy to repair and perform maintenance on the water supply and irrigation systems.
Total costs for the Reflecting Pool renovations have reached nearly $20 million.
American Ag Energy CEO Richard Rosen provided a statement to NBC News regarding the company’s role in the ongoing project.
“Our goal is to have nothing growing in the water,” the Harvard-educated engineer stated. He also insisted that the administration told him the seven-figure contract was based “on merit.”
Even so, Rosen would not even confirm that the $2.7 million would be enough to complete the task. He told the outlet, “I don’t believe in anything until I actually see it work.”
News of the latest multi-million-dollar increase in funding for Trump’s Reflecting Pool makeover set off the MAGA leader’s critics online.
“Everything Humpty touches is a drain on the American taxpayer and [a] bonus for his pocketbook! He simply screws up anything he involves himself in,” an MSN reader expressed.
A second wrote, “That Reflecting Pool reflects Donny, a scummy mess.” The president faced further fury when one commenter declared, “Con artist at work again.”
“He alone can fix everything! LOL. Not a president, just a swampy con man,” read a similar response. Yet another commenter added, “How pathetic, skimming from the dirty pool.”
As American Ag Energy prepares to tackle the Reflecting Pool’s algae problem, a separate issue at the location happened this week.
The Interior Department erected fences around the pool in June after Trump accused vandals of the damage. The fencing was also said to be a safety measure for the July 4 fireworks display.
Two months later, the fences around the exterior of the Reflecting Pool were hit by the latest mishap in the embarrassing debacle.
“Last night’s massive storm knocked over part of the fence around the Reflecting Pool,” tweeted D.C.-based freelance reporter Joe Flood on Sept. 4.
Flood shared footage of the storm’s aftermath. The semi-drained pool was squared off by yellow caution tape where a portion of the fencing was gone.
Trump’s high-profile vanity project has been an expensive and humiliating setback, so far. In addition to the on-site botches, the Justice Department also failed to prosecute alleged vandals.
The often-stubborn president admitted to “some contractor error” after federal prosecutors had to drop all of the vandalism charges.
