White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and U.S. Air Force General Steven Nordhaus, in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 2, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
As algae blooms persist in the Reflecting Pool, the multi-tiered fountain at Meridian Hill Park, known to locals as Malcom X Park, has turned brown.
It has been less than a week since Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Todd Blanche and Trump staffer Stephen Miller dedicated the fountain, touting how the president had worked so hard to bring D.C. back to life. The fountains had previously stopped working during Trump's first administration.
It took a week, and now the water in the fountain has gone from clear to brown, observed Joe Flood, a D.C. resident, while walking by Tuesday.
"The Trump admin bragged about fixing the fountain in Meridian Hill Park. It turned brown," the writer and photographer noted.
Commentator and writer John Aravosis did his own stand-up at the fountains
"The water is now orange, and you can't see through it," assessed Aravosis. "It's not clear what the hell's going on. Like that's what the water is supposed to look like. See." He turned to show the small pool across from the fountain that remained clear.
"Now it's orange and gunky and disgusting and it's not clear what the hell's going on," Aravosis said.
He went on to question whether rust was coming from the pipes or something else was afoot.
At the very top, the water was outright green. So, it's either algae or — oh yeah," he stopped. "Look at the sides. Well, seems the algae is more prevalent than we thought."
The side fountains, which are also turned on, are orange in color.
City Cast DC reporter Tristan Espinoza wrote that he spotted a condom floating in the murky pool.
There continues to be a debate over whether the water is brown or orange.
"I headed to the park to see for myself and yes — the water, once a sparkling blue, had, in fact turned brown," said Espinoza.
The brown/orange water came after a series of storms moved through sending trash flying through the air with severe winds.
A National Park Service spokesperson told Espinoza in a statement that the brown water comes from sediment, “a result of the reopening of two water lines that had been out of service for some time.”
"The National Park Service continues to fine-tune the fountain’s operations,” the statement said.