Trump donor's firm won $1.7 million Reflecting Pool contract

A company owned through the J.J. Cafaro Investment Trust by Trump donor and Mar-a-Lago neighbor John J. Cafaro won a $1.7 million federal contract to install an ozone nanobubbling system in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, putting a politically connected award at the center of a high-profile Washington overhaul. The work was part of President Donald Trump’s effort to spruce up the capital before the nation’s 250th birthday celebrations on July 4, 2026.

Federal contracting records show Green Water Solutions received the water-cleaning contract, while Atlantic Industrial Coatings got a separate $14.2 million award to line the pool in “American Flag Blue.” The combined renovation climbed to about $13.1 million, far above Trump’s earlier public estimate of about $1.5 million and more than seven times the $1.8 million he later said it would cost.

The process quickly drew scrutiny over whether politically connected firms were being favored. A White House spokeswoman said Trump was not involved in selecting Green Water Solutions, but questions intensified when Public Citizen filed Freedom of Information Act requests on May 12, 2026, arguing that the Reflecting Pool work fit a broader pattern of no-bid, high-cost Trump pet projects and lacked transparency.

The next day, Rep. Joe Neguse pressed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum about the Atlantic Industrial contract during a House Natural Resources Committee hearing. Burgum said he was not familiar with the company and defended the process. Trump’s own account shifted as the debate widened: he first said he had a man who was “unbelievable at doing swimming pools,” then later said he did not know the contractor and had never used him before. Sen. Richard Blumenthal later opened a probe into the no-bid contract and the ballooning costs, saying Atlantic Industrial did not appear to have obvious qualifications for the job.

The controversy deepened when algae appeared within days of completion. The Interior Department said the buildup was residual from supply lines that had been dormant for eight weeks during construction and said it would use nanobubblers and hydrogen peroxide to treat the pool. The Reflecting Pool is especially prone to algae because it is shallow, warm and stagnant, a Smithsonian marine plant expert said.

The latest overhaul was meant to prevent another cycle of algae and repair work, but it instead revived old questions about favoritism, public spending and whether federal procurement safeguards were strong enough for a project so closely tied to the White House’s political calendar. The pool’s last major renovation came in 2012 under Barack Obama, when an ozone filtration system was installed, only for National Park Service officials to drain it again two months later and double the ozone level to deal with algae clumps.