> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://hyperallergic.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Happy AlgaeBTQ+ Month From Trump’s Reflecting Pool Memes - URL: https://hyperallergic.com/happy-algaebtq-month-from-trumps-reflecting-pool-memes/ - Published: 2026-06-22T20:53:19.000Z - Updated: 2026-07-02T04:47:34.000Z - Description: Internet denizens are lauding nature’s rebellion against the president’s failed plan to paint the iconic pool “American Flag Blue.” - Author: Isa Farfan - Tags: Memes, Feature, Trump Administration ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/06/Screenshot-2026-06-22-at-2.13.17---PM.png) Trump's plan to make the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool "American Flag Blue" went south when a naturally occurring algae bloom moved in. (@philippe.collignon2d via [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/DZ0UrP3t9GU/?ref=hyperallergic.com), all screenshots **Hyperallergic*) Just in time for AlgaeBTQ+ Pride month, President Trump’s paint is peeling faster than a bad sunburn from the floor of thebarf-green Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Earlier this year, the Trump administration coated the historic pool in Washington, DC,with a pigment he dubbed“American Flag Blue” to celebrate the country’s 250th birthday. But as the water bubbled back into the reflecting pool this month, so has a torrent of rather memeable problems. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/06/image-53.png) Don't fall for it, you might end up in jail. (via [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/DZ2xPrXmomP/?igsh=anl3NTdyNzMwYzF6&img%5Findex=6&ref=hyperallergic.com)) Not only has an algae bloom turned the pool’s water a turbid shade of green, but the blue paint is now also peeling off in chunks. And if visitors’ impulses get the best of them and they reach down to tug on the enticing blue flaps to take home as a souvenir, they might get arrested by federal officers, as was the case with Olympian canoeist [David Carter Hearn](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/20/us/politics/trump-reflecting-pool-drained.html?ref=hyperallergic.com). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/06/Screenshot-2026-06-22-at-1.27.17---PM.png) Nevertheless, she persisted. (@mrwilliamsprek via [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/reels/DZyBhhXhA3J/?ref=hyperallergic.com)) Draconian measures aside, in the meme-o-sphere, social media users lauded nature’s rebellion against Trump’s $14 million project, anthropomorphizing the pool’s algae as a persecuted political dissident — or a fabulous [*Scenedesmus*](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/06/reflecting-pool-algae-scientific-testing-trump/687649/?ref=hyperallergic.com) just trying to live her best “hot algae girl summer.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/06/Screenshot-2026-06-22-at-1.26.20---PM.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/06/Screenshot-2026-06-22-at-1.17.37---PM.png) Next, Anne Hathaway will acquire the film rights. (Left: @wickedjoyful via [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/DZw%5FTHMkWIN/?igsh=d2xyZGRvcjhnb2Uw&ref=hyperallergic.com); right: @embodimentwithemily via [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/DZ2xPrXmomP/?igsh=anl3NTdyNzMwYzF6&ref=hyperallergic.com)) Instead of the patriotic blue the president hoped for, the internet is describing the pool's hue as “Puke green” and retooling Trump's slogan into the pro-bloom “Make Algae Green Again.” Some cheekily suggested the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin, which the president and the far-right heavily promoted during the COVID-19 pandemic despite the lack of [evidence](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/03/31/ivermectin-is-signature-example-politics-trumping-health/?ref=hyperallergic.com). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/06/Screenshot-2026-06-22-at-1.30.10---PM.png) That's the only possible step. (@lagunabeachdems via [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/DZy7BkKOq6Z/?ref=hyperallergic.com)) Online denizens also pointed out that Trump pardoned many January 6 insurrectionists, while blue paint peelers are facing vandalism charges and accusations from the president. Meanwhile, some are vying for lucrative government contracts to “fuck up” the pool just as badly as the president did. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/06/Screenshot-2026-06-22-at-1.21.47---PM.png) First, they came for the algae, and I did not speak out because I was a frog. (@will.allendupraw via [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/reels/DZ3CSMhvCsb/?ref=hyperallergic.com)) Still others have invoked the Reflecting Pool fiasco as yet another item to tack onto Trump's [growing list](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/19/us-iran-talks-in-switzerland-cancelled?ref=hyperallergic.com) of failures as Commander in Chief ... ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/06/Screenshot-2026-06-22-at-1.25.51---PM.png) How can we trust this man with anything (@californiabridgefairy via [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/DZwLfd5IsCt/?igsh=ZmNlZzkzMWE1dzZu&ref=hyperallergic.com)) This is what my first fish tank as a kid looked like before it killed all of my new guppies: ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/06/Screenshot-2026-06-22-at-1.25.16---PM.png) At least he's consistent! (@other98 via [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/DZ0gD4HD-t5/?igsh=MW9kOXRicWQzazZldw%3D%3D&ref=hyperallergic.com)) What's left to say — besides “drain the swamp”? Oh, that's right ... ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/06/Screenshot-2026-06-22-at-1.29.31---PM.png) I will be at the march. (@official\_lady\_bunny via [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/DZ0Ki1hFGly/?ref=hyperallergic.com)) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/06/Screenshot-2026-06-22-at-1.23.32---PM.png) I've been saying that we need to tax the phytoplankton all along. (@bosssdog via [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/DZ0Zwtbj7wK/?igsh=b2RvZThqMmhvZGll&ref=hyperallergic.com)) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/06/Screenshot-2026-06-22-at-1.06.26---PM.png) Please, please, please let this be Pantone's color of the year! (@headquartersnewsroom via [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/DZseCFoRZOu/?igsh=MTRpd3pzMHd4dnQ2Mw%3D%3D&ref=hyperallergic.com)) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/06/Screenshot-2026-06-22-at-1.07.55---PM.png) This alga is bikini-ready. (@dapstar via [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/DZ3YINOxmzp/?igsh=MW4xemJ4c3YwcDdyMg%3D%3D&ref=hyperallergic.com)) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/06/Screenshot-2026-06-22-at-1.27.53---PM.png) Some people reportedly took flaps of paint home with them. (@other98 via [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/DZz9z1KDF2P/?igsh=MTJtazlvYTVsbWM0ZA%3D%3D&ref=hyperallergic.com))