LIVE VIDEO: Reflecting Pool Disaster—Peeling Paint & Green Water

Summary

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The Bulwark Podcast Live: Reflecting Pool Disaster—Peeling Paint & Green Water

Date: June 18, 2026
Host: Sam Stein
Guests: Sarah Matthews, Brendan Hartnett
Location: Live on-site at the National Mall Reflecting Pool

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Episode Overview

This special live edition of The Bulwark podcast covers the unfolding "disaster" at the National Mall Reflecting Pool, where a recent attempt to restore the famed pool has gone awry. With a $14 million, no-bid contract resulting in peeling blue paint and persistent algae, the hosts provide on-the-ground reporting, real-time observations, and sharp commentary. The episode explores both the technical problems (peeling paint, unsuccessful algae treatment, and ongoing maintenance mishaps) and the underlying issues of government shortcuts, public accountability, and wasted resources.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Live from the Reflecting Pool: The Situation Unfolds

• Start [00:00]
  • Host Sam Stein, with Sarah Matthews and Brendan Hartnett, are on location to observe and report on the disaster in real time.
  • The pool, recently repainted blue at high cost, is already suffering significant peeling and unsightly green water.

2. Peeling Paint and Physical Evidence

• On-Site Discovery [00:24–01:40]
  • Brendan describes finding and attempting to remove a large "slice" of blue paint from the pool:

    "We found what is the biggest slice of blue paint coming off the pool. Fortunately, we have some tongs... and we're going to rip it out and see what happens." – Brendan [00:24]

  • Sarah provides context: media and turf war, multiple outlets covering the fiasco.
  • She notes the jarring contrast:

    "The color is green. I mean, it's just as green as the Chicago river on St. Patrick's Day." – Sarah [00:57]

3. Hydrogen Peroxide: Cure Worse Than the Disease?

• Technical Response and Unintended Consequences [01:41–01:47]
  • The city poured hydrogen peroxide to kill algae, possibly causing or exacerbating the paint peeling:

    "I did look up that hydrogen peroxide can be used as a stripping formula... you can get paint removed and coatings removed like this." – Sam [01:47]

4. The Underlying Problem: Poor Planning and Execution

• Systemic Issues [03:41–04:27]
  • Sarah points out mismanagement and failures to address the root cause:

    "They didn't fix the initial problem with the system, which is the filtration system. And it seems like Trump just wanted to slap this blue paint on before actually fixing the underlying problem, and now it's just getting worse and compounding." – Sarah [04:11]

5. Ongoing Damage Control: Workers and Media Scrutiny

• Real-Time Damage Control [03:31–03:53]
  • Sam and Brendan observe workers scraping, sucking up, and removing paint debris as soon as it surfaces.

    "There are dozens of workers both in the water and surrounding the pool... just as we see, they're trying to just peel up... the chunks of paint..." – Sarah [03:41]

6. The Eternal Algae Battle

• Unsolvable Algae [05:07–05:34]
  • Hydrogen peroxide appears to work partially against algae, but at the cost of stripping paint, presenting a dilemma:

    "They can't... Because it's kill. Because it's stripping the paint." – Sam [05:31]

  • Sarah and Sam discuss the persistence of green algae even after treatments, with the center of the pool remaining especially bad.

7. Up-Close With the Disaster: Live Experiments and Anecdotes

• Physical Evidence Collection [05:42–09:14]
  • Live on mic, Brendan pulls a large, flapping sheet of blue paint from the water:

    "It's got to be at least 2 or 3ft long and maybe like 2ft wide." – Brendan [06:51]

  • The team jokes about possible legal trouble for removing federal property.
  • They conduct an impromptu "tie-dye" experiment by dipping a white shirt in green water to assess staining, promising to show results later.

8. Water Sampling and Ongoing Observation

• On-the-Ground Science [09:14–09:31]
  • Brendan describes collecting water samples:

    "We didn't find many chemicals in the water at that point, but we did find that the PH was off the charts, which is typical for algae." – Brendan [09:31]

  • He notes that the conditions improve slightly day by day but highlights the futility in treating a shallow, stagnant pool in summer, regardless of expenditure:

    "I feel like, you know, I could have saved you $14 million by telling you it was going to accumulate algae." – Brendan [10:15]

9. Meta-Commentary: Why Everyone Cares

• Civic Symbolism [10:20–10:22+]
  • Sam reads from a Washington Post piece, suggesting the broader symbolic and political stakes attached to the Reflecting Pool and its mismanagement.

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• "It's just as green as the Chicago river on St. Patrick's Day."
  – Sarah Matthews [00:57]
• "I did look up that hydrogen peroxide can be used as a stripping formula…"
  – Sam Stein [01:47]
• "They didn't fix the initial problem with the system… now it's just getting worse and compounding."
  – Sarah Matthews [04:11]
• "It's got to be at least 2 or 3ft long and maybe like 2ft wide." – Brendan Hartnett [06:51]
• "I feel like, you know, I could have saved you $14 million by telling you it was going to accumulate algae." – Brendan Hartnett [10:15]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:24] – Brendan identifies and attempts to remove large piece of peeling blue paint
• [00:57] – Sarah compares green water to the Chicago River on St. Patrick's Day
• [01:47] – Sam explains hydrogen peroxide's unintended effect on pool coating
• [03:41] – Sarah highlights workers’ efforts and systemic maintenance failures
• [04:11] – Discussion on root causes and mismanagement
• [05:07] – Algae containment and spread after treatment
• [06:51] – Brendan describes massive size of peeled paint sheet
• [09:31] – Brendan shares water sample analysis, high PH and recurring algae
• [10:15] – Cost-benefit analysis: “I could have saved you $14 million…”

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Tone and Style

Consistently wry, observational, and lightly irreverent; the hosts laugh at the spectacle, express incredulity at wasteful government decisions, and punctuate the reporting with dry, pointed humor and a sense of civic exasperation.

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For those who missed it:
This episode offers a vivid, on-the-ground chronicle of a public works fiasco, blending pointed policy critique with real-time spectacle, all centered on one of Washington’s most iconic public spaces. The team’s mixture of reporting, direct observation, and satire captures both the absurdity and seriousness of the Reflecting Pool disaster.

Transcript

[A]

All right. Hey, everybody. We are live. This is Sam Stein. I'm with Sarah Matthews and Brendan Hartnett. We are live at the Reflecting Pool. I know this seems a little bit weird to be live at the Reflecting Pool, but there is actual weird breaking news from the Reflecting Pool. And since we're all obsessed with the story, at least I am. Looks like there's pieces of paint. The coating that we put on the pool seems to be coming apart. Brendan, what can you tell us?

[B]

Yeah, so we just did a little lap around here, and we found what is the biggest slice of blue paint coming off the pool. Fortunately, we have some tongs, courtesy of Bulwark hq, and we're going to rip it out and see what happens.

[A]

All right, go rip it out. Sarah, you hold this while he rips it out. Brendan, go to the pool. Let's get a camera on Brennan as he goes, and if we can get an image of him pulling it out of the pool, I would love to see it. Okay.

[C]

Yep, sounds good. I was like, he is walking over. All right, well, we've got some competing. Everyone's here covering it. People are coming and getting footage of the paint peeling. And so, yeah, a little bit of a turf war happening, but lots media coverage of this because, I mean, it is kind of Insane to think $14 million, no bid contract, and, what, in a week or two, the paint is already peeling. The. The color is green. I mean, it's just as green as the Chicago river on St. Patrick's Day. And it just keeps getting worse, it seems like. But, yeah, there's pretty big chunks of paint that are peeling off that Brendan's going to try to get. And so that way we can take a look at it. But, yeah, the American flag, blue. I guess it wasn't that blue because the. It's still pretty green. But I guess if you think about it, we saw the images of them in the videos of them pouring hydrogen peroxide into the water this week.

[A]

Right.

[C]

Trying to counteract the algae. And, you know, one would think that maybe that has something to do with why the paint is now peeling.

[A]

We'll get into that. I'm not a scientist or anything like that, but I did look up that hydrogen peroxide can be used as a stripping formula, so you can get paint removed and coatings removed like this. You. You can hear Jonathan Carl in the background right now from ABC doing his thing. Brendan, take the mic for a second because you actually saw the chunk of paint that was removed. So just to be walk us through, is it clear that it's actually the paint, the blue paint from the coating that they applied.

[B]

Oh, yeah. I started pulling on it, and half of it started coming up. I think as soon as we grab it and give it a good yank, the whole thing is going to come out and hopefully not ruin this white shirt, but we'll see.

[A]

But it's definitely. It's definitely the coating, right?

[B]

Oh, it's. It's like the paint. There's texture to it. It feels like, you know, like on a cheaper pool, how. Like the floor, like, kind of touch your feet after a while. That's what it feels like.

[A]

And how many pieces of floating paint do you see? Or is it just loose now?

[B]

You know, it seems like they keep getting taken out as soon as they're up, but we've seen maybe two or three much smaller.

[A]

What do you mean they get. What do you mean they get taken out? There's workers there who are removing it.

[B]

So, yeah, we have down there and also closer to the Lincoln National Parks employees who are currently scraping the pool and seemingly sucking up the debris coming off of it. And so it seems like once it comes up and starts floating to the surface, they get it removed. So we haven't seen as many as they were reported to be earlier this morning, but there's been a few, just not nearly as big as this giant one.

[A]

Okay. How many were reported this morning?

[B]

There were tons of pictures everywhere of just, like, loose paint coming up all across the reflecting pool, especially puddling up in the. In the corners.

[A]

And, Sarah, give us a sense of how, like, how many workers are there and what kind of work they're actually doing to make sure that it doesn't look totally ridiculous.

[C]

Yeah, there are dozens of workers both in the water and surrounding the pool. Lots of little carts. And, yeah, people, just as we see. As we see, they're trying to just peel up. I think the chunks of paint I think they saw. If I had to guess, they saw the media reports. And then it seems like some of the other workers are focused on the algae part of it as well and removing that. And I just have to laugh at it because, I mean, $14 million already spent, and how much more are they spending in resources now to try to get the algae out, to try to get the peeling paint chunks out. And what this kind of, I think, goes back to is that they didn't fix the initial problem with the system, which is the filtration system. And it seems like Trump just wanted to slap this blue paint on before actually fixing the underlying problem, and now it's just getting worse and compounding.

[A]

And maybe people in the comments section can help me out here, because, you know, was pouring hydrogen peroxide to kill the algae responsible for, in fact, destroying the blue coating on the bottom. And is there any way to fix that if you don't just drain the reflecting pool once again to try and recode it? And if you record it, don't you just end up in the same exact problem that we're dealing with? It does seem like a mess in terms of the algae. Sarah, you said was green. We had seen images where the green had been contained into the middle. Is that still the case, or is it more spread out now?

[C]

Yeah, no, that's still the case. We saw some overhead images in the last couple days after they poured the hydrogen peroxide that it was killing all the algae on the perimeter, but then the green was still in the middle, and that still kind of seems to be the case. It's definitely not as green as it was the last few days. And it does seem like the hydrogen peroxide is working a little bit, but I think that they're going to have to keep pouring gallons and gallons and gallons.

[A]

But they can't. Can't. Because it's kill. Because it's stripping the paint.

[B]

That's the problem.

[C]

Exactly, exactly. And this is why they shouldn't have painted it, I think, before actually fixing the underlying issue. But, you know, let's get Brendan.

[A]

Let's get Brendan. You can do it now. Okay. Follow the camera, Brendan. Yeah, well, don't dip your mic in the water, buddy. Hold on. Get that. Sir out of the way. Get this guy out of the way. Thank you. Okay, here we go.

[C]

Yeah, Just one second.

[A]

All right, Brandon, Go ahead, man.

[B]

Ready, please?

[A]

Yeah. Let's see. All right, we're just taking a look at what's in here, so that is part of the whole thing up, guys. He's not ripping the whole thing up. Don't worry. We're trying to get a visual. Okay, so that. That's good. So that's the bottom of the pool that is now coming off. Okay, you can draw. You can hold there. Okay, that's okay. Let's take that. Take that. Put in your trash bag. Okay, that looks like clearly like part of the reflecting pool coating, and it seems to be flapping like a dead bird's wing in the water. Speaking of dead animals. Oh, there it is. Look at that. That's definitely coating.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Oh, God. What a mess. What a mess. How big would. Brendan, how big was that piece, if you had to, if you had to

[B]

guess, it's got to be. I mean, I kept like just pulling it. Keep coming, coming up. It's got to be at least 2 or 3ft long and maybe like 2ft wide. Jesus.

[A]

Are you going to get in trouble for ripping up federal property? Do we need to lawyer up to this, man?

[B]

But also, I think we're probably more in trouble with legacy media, so, you know, but yeah.

[A]

Okay. Now, we also brought a shirt, is that right?

[B]

We did bring a shirt. And why don't we move a little down there for this?

[A]

Okay.

[B]

So we can get out of everybody's shot.

[A]

All right, let's get out of people's shot. Let's take a look. So here we have. I don't know what that is. A light, something like that. So we're, we're like what, halfway down the reflecting pool here?

[B]

Yeah, about the midpoint.

[A]

Where is the algae mostly congregating is that one end in the middle.

[B]

So down towards the Lincoln Memorial. The pool does seem a little bit bluer, especially today compared to past days. I don't know. You walked on the other side. How was the other side?

[C]

The other side looked a little bit more blue. Yeah, I, I met them over here, but I was originally over on that side and walked all the way around the perimeter and it definitely looked a little bit more blue than it does over here. Over here we can really see the algae up rising to the top and it looks.

[A]

Can we get a little close up here? Can we get that camera a little close?

[C]

I can start to see a little closer.

[A]

Let's see. Oh, man. Yeah.

[C]

Yeah, you can really see it.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Okay, that's real.

[C]

So we want to look at the water quality, though, and that's why we brought the shirt here.

[A]

Yeah, we're going to do this. Okay, let's dip the shirt. Just go halfway down.

[C]

This is going to be a little tie dye experiment.

[A]

You can get. You can get in the store. You can get in the store if you want. We're not going to sell the algae drained one. Okay.

[B]

So let's see. It's a little windy. It's a little hard to get it underneath, but yeah, we're going to dip

[C]

it halfway so we can compare the results.

[A]

All right, this is great tv, guys.

[B]

First ever Bulwark wet teacher contest.

[A]

No. Okay, so let's make sure that we don't harm that. Maybe we should put that in the bag too, so the wind and the elements don't affect it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And then we're gonna check in. We're gonna check in a couple days to see just how stained the shirt is. Now, Brandon, I don't want to reveal too much, but you've been collecting water samples for a couple days now. Talk a little bit about how many days you've been there and how much you've collected.

[B]

Yes, I was down here on Monday. We collected our first batch. That was when the story had first been breaking about just how algae covered the pool was. It was pretty bad. We didn't find any. We didn't find many chemicals in the water at that point, but we did find that the PH was off the charts, which is typical for algae. And came back yesterday, took another sample. I will say it was a little clearer, actually. You could even see just from the water bottle itself. But we'll probably do another one while we're here today if you want. I can actually do that right now. But, yeah, it's. Maybe it's getting better. Who knows? But, I mean, at the same time, it's like a foot of stagnant water in the middle of a swamp in the heat of summer. I feel like, you know, I could have saved you $14 million by telling you it was going to accumulate algae.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

No matter.

[A]

Yeah. There's a Washington Post piece up today. I'm just gonna read from it because, you know, it's. We'll talk a little bit about why people care about the pool and.