Firm Tied to Trump Donor Got No-Bid Contract to Clean Reflecting Pool (Greenwater Services... lol!)

[demmiblue]

A business tied to a longtime supporter of President Trump was given a no-bid contract to install a water-purification system in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool earlier this spring.

Now that work is coming under scrutiny after algae blooms have come back and turned the iconic pool in Washington a vibrant shade of green rather than the American-flag blue Mr. Trump says he chose.

The contract shows that the National Park Service bypassed the competitive-bidding process that is typically required, and gave a $1.7 million contract to the firm, Greenwater Services of Brookfield, Ohio.

Federal contracting records show that firm’s ultimate owner is the J.J. Cafaro Investment Trust, led by John J. Cafaro, a donor to Mr. Trump and a neighbor to Mar-a-Lago, the president’s private club in Florida. The water treatment company also listed Mr. Cafaro’s Palm Beach mansion as its address in Florida corporate records, and listed his investment trust’s phone number and email in Ohio lobbying records.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/18/us/politics/trump-donor-contract-reflecting-pool.html

The NYT photo is from 2002. If you’re wondering “Has this guy been turning more into Paul Bearer since then” you better believe the answer is yes

— Patrick Monahan (@pattymo.com) 2026-06-19T02:53:02.703Z

Lol found his mug shot. He's the guy who bribed Traficant

— Helen Kennedy (@helenkennedy.com) 2026-06-19T02:01:47.449Z

[LisaL]

1. Greenwater services?

Sounds about right.

[buzzycrumbhunger]

2. We knew this, though

Biggest laugh for me is the fact they referenced Dr. Paul Bearer—ridiculously hilarious Tampa Bay Saturday creature feature host, whose tag line was “I’ll be lurking for you…”

Was he actually known outside Florida?

[Farmer-Rick]

3. Figures

Using criminals to to do work that requires more thorough understanding of reflecting pools and engineering is not usually successful and leads to shoddy work.

If they had half a brain they would have checked with the engineers who manage the many reflecting pools around the US and Europe.

The reflecting pool at the Oklahoma City National Memorial does not suffer from the same maintenance nightmares as the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. They should have consulted with them.

OKC's memorial reflecting pool relies on carefully controlled engineering. Unlike the stooges pedo Trump used to give DC a green and peeling pool.

[twodogsbarking]

4. How many of you guys checked to see if your wallet was still in your pocket? I did

[ananda]

5. This is too good! Greenwater?

Literally.

[orangecrush]

6. You can't make this shit up

[LetMyPeopleVote]

7. MaddowBlog-Scrambling to avoid blame for Reflecting Pool fiasco, Trump's defense turns farcical

The debacle has become a metaphor of sorts, but not the one the president had in mind.

For Trump, the Reflecting Pool was supposed to be a totemic success story, demonstrating that his unique approach to problem-solving is fundamentally superior to his predecessors’.

This one project would serve as a metaphor for how awesome his awesomeness is.

Oops.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-06-23T13:15:51.138Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-reflecting-pool-fiasco-defense

There is a degree of irony surrounding Donald Trump’s Reflecting Pool fiasco. For months, the president obsessed over the renovation project, framing it as a metaphor for how awesome his awesomeness is: The Republican would tackle a lingering problem that vexed previous administrations, while delivering impressive results quickly and cheaply.....

With this in mind, the president came to realize in recent days that he needed an excuse — or preferably villains who could shoulder the blame for his own failures.

To that end, he began assuring the public over the weekend that he had succeeded beautifully, but that “vandals” intervened and ruined his triumph. At an unrelated White House event on Monday afternoon, the president went further, alleging nefarious criminals — some armed with “probably a box cutter or a knife of some kind” — attacked the Reflecting Pool with fertilizer and “did something to create the algae.”

The administration said five people were arrested on charges of vandalism, though without more information, it’s nearly impossible to say whether these people actually did anything wrong or whether they were charged as part of an inherently political exercise.

As is usually the case with Trump’s more outlandish claims, he has provided no evidence. At his Oval Office event on Monday afternoon, the president suggested the evidence exists, but he’s not yet prepared to share it.

Trump: I can't help it if somebody goes in with a knife and starts hacking it up. Uh... and we also have pictures of it.

Q: Can you release the photos?

Trump: At the right time you'll see it. You'll see it in court.

— FactPost (@factpostnews.bsky.social) 2026-06-22T20:41:36.507704516Z

......For good measure, the president also decided to whine about Barack Obama as part of the same clumsy presentation, though it wasn’t altogether clear why.

O'KEEFE: You said the guy was gonna do the reflecting poll in a week for about a million dollars. It's been two months and .5 million


TRUMP: Are you ready? Barack Hussein Obama

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-06-22T20:26:19.660Z

Indeed, one of the most amazing things about this story is the number of familiar boxes it checks. Trump fails to deliver on bold promises? Check. He relies on no-bid contracts and a rushed process that fell apart? Check. He concocts weird theories about his perceived enemies? Check. He desperately spins a fantastical tale with evolving details in the hopes of avoiding blame for his own failure? Check. His aligned prosecutors scramble to help justify his dubious claims with equally dubious charges? Check.