--- title: "You Are Entirely Unready to Learn the Name of the Company That Accidentally Filled the Reflecting Pool With Green Algae" description: "A company, which received a no-bid, $1.7 million contract to clean up the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool for Trump, has the perfect name." date: "2026-06-30" modified: "2026-06-30" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/future-society/company-name-pool-trump" categories: - "Environment" - "Future Society" - "Science & Energy" --- # You Are Entirely Unready to Learn the Name of the Company That Accidentally Filled the Reflecting Pool With Green Algae ![Green-tinted water surface with light reflections creating wavy, glowing patterns and a few small air bubbles.]() *A photograph of green water.* US President Donald Trump has been desperately trying stop the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, DC from [looking like an algae-infested swamp](). He's already spent over $16 million of taxpayer funds to turn the iconic 2,000-by-600-foot body of water into a crystal-clear pond, [only to make matters far worse](), with the refurbishment attempt suffering from peeling blue paint and unnatural greenish coloration triggered by out-of-control algae and chemicals poured in to fight it. Dead ducks [have been sighted]() near the pool, tarnishing the president's efforts to celebrate the United States' 250th birthday. Particularly eyebrow-raising: an Ohio-based company that received a $1.7 million no-bid contract to clean up the mess — initially to no avail — has existing business ties with Trump. The firm is co-owned by one of his friends, a twice-convicted federal felon named John "JJ" Cafaro who was busted bribing a US congressman to secure federal contracts. And most incredibly of all, the company has a name such a perfect name that it sounds like over-the-top parody: Greenwater Services. The company became the butt of the joke and was overwhelmed with negative press after the reflecting pool refused to stop being green, despite efforts to add "nano bubblers" to inject ozone and choke out the algae. According [to the *Wall Street Journal*](), president Chas Antinone Jr. became "inundated with angry voicemails accusing him of swimming in corrupt public cash." "We’ve got nothing to hide," he told the newspaper. However, the *WSJ* never managed to reach the convicted felon Cafaro, with Greenwater spokeswoman Erin Kramer dodging the newspaper's requests by saying he's "just an Ohio businessman that invested in an Ohio company." Cafaro was convicted of conspiracy to commit bribery, admitting to having paid a congressman $13,000 in cash for favors. He also gave a false statement to the government about a loan he tried to conceal from investigators. The businessman has also made sizable donations to Trump fundraising efforts and happens to live not far from the president's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. **More on the pool:** [*Trump’s Reflecting Pool Is No Match for the AlgaeBTQ Agenda*]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()