Trump donor’s company wins $1.7 million no-bid Reflecting Pool contract

A Trump donor’s Ohio company won a $1.7 million no-bid contract to install a new water-cleaning system for the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, putting the project’s spending and oversight under fresh scrutiny. The award to Green Water Solutions, also known as Greenwater Services, went to a company owned by a trust led by John J. Cafaro as the pool renovation continued to expand in cost and complexity.

The contract covered an ozone nanobubbling system meant to control algae in the shallow basin on the National Mall, part of Donald Trump’s push to renovate the pool before the nation’s 250th anniversary. Trump had publicly called the century-old pool “filthy” and said he wanted a clearer, more attractive look. The White House said Trump was not involved in selecting Greenwater Services, while the Interior Department said the company was chosen because it had the expertise, workforce and materials needed for the job.

The Reflecting Pool work has already become a test of whether the government steered public money through routine contracting or favoritism. Federal records show the water-treatment award was paired with a separate $14.2 million contract to Atlantic Industrial Coatings to line the pool in the color “American Flag Blue.” Trump had earlier quoted the project at about $1.5 million, but the total was reported at roughly $13.1 million in May 2026 and later about $16 million.

The visible results have not matched the price tag. By June 12 and June 16, 2026, the pool was again visibly green, only days after the renovation finished. Interior said the algae was residual from dormant supply lines that had sat unused during construction, and said it would use nanobubblers along with hydrogen peroxide to kill it. Brooks Barrett, a Smithsonian marine plant expert, said there was “no quick fix” because the reflecting pool is especially suited to algae growth: it is warm, stagnant and shallow.

The current fight echoes an earlier renovation. The pool was last overhauled in 2012 during Barack Obama’s two-year, $34 million restoration, when officials installed an ozone filtration system. Even then, the pool later had to be drained again and the ozone level raised to control algae.

The spending has drawn political and watchdog attention. On May 12, 2026, Public Citizen filed Freedom of Information Act requests seeking contract and communications records tied to the blue lining and water-purification work. Two days later, Sen. Richard Blumenthal opened a probe into the no-bid contracts, warning that ballooning payments and thin public explanations raised concerns about taxpayer dollars being diverted to Trump’s preferred partners.