President Donald Trump's flagship £11.5 million ($14.8 million) taxpayer-funded overhaul of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is already coming apart, with the new 'American flag blue' coating physically stripping from the basin just two weeks after completion.
The 2,000ft pool is now plagued by an algae outgrowth that experts say signals high pH conditions. Such elevated pH is known to strip paint and could ruin the entire renovation. What began as a cosmetic row has entered a more serious structural phase, raising urgent questions over whether the paint job can be saved before the nation's 250th anniversary celebrations on 4 July.
