As the nation prepares for a red, white and blue July 4 celebration, the White House is responding to a problem of a different hue: a verdant Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool rife with algae.

At Trump’s urging, federal officials this spring undertook a renovation project aimed at beautifying the historic pool on D.C.’s National Mall.

But just weeks before the project’s completion, twin controversies have the Trump administration on defense over both the process and outcomes of the renovation.

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Since Trump first announced the renovation project on April 23 – something he said he undertook after hearing from a German friend who complained the water was “dirty,” “filthy” and “sad” – the president has brought up the project to reporters, unprompted, at least 10 additional times.

During remarks in the East Room on May 4, for example, Trump lambasted previous estimates that the renovation would cost hundreds of millions of dollars, insisting he could do it better and more cheaply.

“I think we can do it for about $1.9 million,” Trump said, also announcing the pool would be coated in a new, waterproof membrane in the color “American Flag Blue.”

“This will last for at least 50 years and you'll never have a leak,” Trump said.

Since Trump’s announcement, the cost of the project has ballooned to more than $15 million dollars, federal contracting records show. And though work on the coating was completed on June 3, the pool today is less blue than green, rife with algal growth that’s drawn mockery from Trump’s critics.

“It's awful, like the rest of everything else they’re doing,” Jackie Leddone, a Northern Virginia resident visiting the pool, told Scripps News Friday.