But within days, clumps of algae popped up on the water's surface, giving it a green hue. Flecks of the newly applied, hand-picked paint also began peeling and floating to the top.
Crews deployed by the Interior Department soon began using hydrogen peroxide and nanobubble technology to try to combat the algae blooms but to no avail.
Multiple dead ducks were also found in and near the pool, spurring calls from the Center for Biological Diversity for an investigation into whether the use of those chemicals, the peeling paint or toxic blooms was responsible.
As scrutiny grew, the White House deflected blame. Administration officials claimed the water quality and aesthetic problems were the result of “crazy and deranged lunatics” vandalizing the site, with Trump claiming chemicals had been poured into the water and a 300-plus-foot slit was cut into the bottom.
“They went down with probably a box cutter or a very sharp razor of some kind or a knife, and they cut, and then they started ripping it up,” he recently said in the Oval Office. “You know why? Because they’re sick people.”
Experts aren’t so sure.
“It is absolutely impossible that anyone could have inoculated that pool and shown an effect in literally hours," Wayne Carmichael, a biological sciences professor at Wright State University, told PBS News. “Absolutely a silly notion."
Critics argued the problems were due to a rushed job, homing in on the no-bid contracts awarded to Virginia-based Atlantic Industrial Coatings and Ohio-based Green Water Solutions, two firms with ties to Trump.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum confirmed on Sunday that the same company will handle the pending repairs, defending the work as “fantastic.”
“Thankfully, the vandalism was small. It was, it was bad. I mean, it could cost tens of thousands of dollars to repair, so then it could fall into a felony, felony thing, just like damaging any other government property could,” Burgum said on CNN.
The Trump administration has begun pursuing criminal cases against at least half a dozen individuals it says have vandalized the pool.
That includes former U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn, a 67-year-old Bethesda, Md., resident who was indicted by a D.C. grand jury last week on felony destruction of property charges. He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro accused Hearn during a press conference of “forcefully and violently pulling up and removing the bottom liner with both hands,” causing more than $1,000 in damage to 2 square feet of sealant.
Hearn has denied any wrongdoing, and his attorneys alleged the justice system was being exploited to “provide political cover” for the administration.
“Davey Hearn is innocent,” attorneys Norm Eisen and Mary Dohrmann said in a statement. “These charges are outrageous and should be alarming to every American. This indictment reflects the administration’s effort to shift blame for their own failures.”
At least seven other individuals have also been cited for alleged vandalism, according to the Interior Department, which did not respond to a request from The Hill for further information about the criminal charges and citations.
It’s all unfolding against the backdrop of a federal lawsuit that argues the work was unlawful from the start.
The Cultural Landscape Foundation and its founder, Charles Birnbaum, sued in May to block the resurfacing project, arguing that it ran afoul of regulations in both the National Historic Preservation Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.
“The persistent problems with the pool are the product of Defendants’ rushed and poorly conceived plans,” an amended complaint filed on July 2 stated. “And every day that Defendants forge ahead without following the procedures required by law, Plaintiffs and others are deprived of information and ability to participate in the review process that Congress provided for by law.”
The Justice Department previously told the court that a full review was not required because it had conducted a “streamlined consultation” and determined that the project qualified as “routine maintenance and repair that will have trivial aesthetic and environmental impact.”
“In their rush to litigate against a project they do not like, Plaintiffs filed a Motion that has a weak grasp of the facts,” DOJ attorneys wrote in court filings.
District Judge Carl John Nichols, a Trump appointee, has yet to rule on the matter. He has given the Justice Department until July 17 to file a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
