Trump Says Vandals Sabotaged the Reflecting Pool. Internal Documents Raise Doubts. [View all]

Source: NYT

But government documents obtained by The New York Times show that while National Park Service workers found two cuts in sections of foam between the pool’s expansion joints, those were unrelated to the “American flag blue” coating that is now peeling, or to the algae that has turned the pool a bright shade of green.

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The pool had been drained, resealed and then refilled by June 5. Four days later, Park Service workers discovered holes, cracks and peeling caulking in parts of the pool, along with cuts in sections of the foam, according to the documents.

The cause of the cuts was unclear. While a June 9 report by the U.S. Park Police described the cuts as “razor blade slashes” made along a 20-foot-long stretch of the foam, the administration has yet to present evidence supporting that assertion. The documents reviewed by The Times described them as two 171-foot blade cuts but did not address how they were made.

By June 16, workers had noticed that chunks of blue sealant that covered the pool’s bottom were peeling and floating to the surface, the documents show. That sealant was separate from the foam in the pool’s expansion joints, which allow its concrete slabs to expand and contract.

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Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/23/us/trump-reflecting-pool-green-peeling.html

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The article points out that by June 15, the temporary nanobubblers weren't all working because of problems with the generators, and the pool had started to turn green. By the 16th, the blue coating was peeling.

A specialist in waterproof coatings who reviewed the documents at the NYT's request said the sealant peeling might have been partly due to the cuts in the foam, and partly due to not enough sealant being used.