National Guard troops and U.S. Park Police have been deployed around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool following a series of incidents involving an algae bloom and floating blue paint, which the Trump administration is treating as deliberate sabotage. The increased security presence, which began Monday, comes after the Department of the Interior reported five arrests and five federal citations for vandalism, with a sixth arrest confirmed by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Leavitt told Fox News that those taken into custody are “longtime donors to the Democrat Party, to Barack Obama, to ActBlue,” though she did not provide supporting evidence. She added, “We’re going to not only hold those people accountable, but we’re going to fix the pool, continue to make it beautiful from this despicable vandalism just in time to celebrate our nation’s 250th birthday next week.” The Hill has reached out to the National Guard and U.S. Park Police for further details on the arrests.
The pool, which underwent a $14.2 million renovation that included repainting the bottom “American flag blue” and resealing leaks, was refilled earlier this month. Within days, the water turned green due to algae blooms. The Interior Department said crews treated the algae with hydrogen peroxide and nanobubble technology. However, the problem escalated when clumps of blue paint began floating to the surface.
Former U.S. Olympian David Hearn, a Bethesda, Md., resident, was among those arrested. He told The Washington Post he merely “reached in there” and grabbed a piece of already-peeling paint. “I didn’t vandalize anything,” Hearn said. “I didn’t destroy or break or peel anything. By the time I realized what was going on, I was being put in handcuffs.” Hearn has since denied any wrongdoing and is expected to contest the charges.
President Trump, speaking Monday in the Oval Office, alleged that vandals used box cutters to slash the pool’s coating and dumped fertilizer to accelerate algae growth. He vowed that the 10-year prison sentence for destroying federal property would be “fully enforced.” Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said anyone caught vandalizing the pool would be prosecuted.
Critics have accused the president of using the vandalism narrative to deflect blame for ongoing maintenance failures. Trump has insisted the sabotage is real, but skeptics point to the pool’s history of water quality issues and the rushed renovation timeline as more plausible explanations. The pool was drained last month for the initial repair work, only to encounter new problems shortly after refilling.
As the nation approaches its 250th birthday celebrations, the administration is under pressure to restore the iconic landmark. The deployment of National Guard and Park Police marks an unusual response to what some see as a maintenance problem rather than a coordinated attack. The ongoing controversy highlights the intersection of political messaging, infrastructure management, and law enforcement at one of Washington’s most visited sites.
