Company Owned by Trump Donor Got $1.7 Million Deal to Clean the Reflecting Pool

The federal government gave a $1.7 million contract to a company owned by a man who donated large amounts of money to President Trump's campaigns. The company, Green Water Solutions, was hired to install a special water-cleaning system at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The deal was awarded without letting other companies compete for it, which has raised questions about whether the process was fair.

The owner of Green Water Solutions is connected to a trust run by a man named John J. Cafaro. Cafaro is a businessman and real estate developer from Ohio. He has given large sums of money to Republican candidates, including $250,000 to a Trump fundraising group in 2020. Records also show he made some donations to Democrats over the years.

Cafaro has had legal trouble in the past. In 2010, he pleaded guilty to breaking campaign finance laws tied to his daughter's run for Congress. Years before that, he also admitted to being part of a plan to bribe a congressman, but he cooperated with prosecutors in that case. He and his wife own a home in Palm Beach, Florida, less than a mile from Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort.

Green Water Solutions uses a technology called 'Nano Bubble.' The system pumps tiny bubbles filled with ozone into water to kill algae, bacteria, and other harmful things. The company says it is safe for the environment because the main byproduct it creates is oxygen. Green Water Solutions also did water treatment work at Trump's golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

The government hired Green Water Solutions in April through the Department of the Interior. Officials said they skipped the normal bidding process because the project had 'unusual and compelling urgency.' They wanted the pool ready before the nation's 250th birthday celebration on July 4. They also said the Nano Bubble system is a rare technology with very few suppliers in the United States.

The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is more than 100 years old and covers over 300,000 square feet. It has struggled with algae problems for many years. President Trump took a personal interest in fixing it up, visiting the site and even choosing the color of a sealant for the pool's floor, picking a shade called 'American Flag Blue.' A separate company received a $14.7 million no-bid contract to install that sealant.

A White House spokesperson said there was no conflict of interest, explaining that the Department of the Interior — not the White House — awarded the contract. Cafaro told a local Ohio newspaper that Trump 'doesn't know a thing about' the Reflecting Pool work. He said he would never bring it up with the president because 'you don't do things to put friends in awkward positions.'

Soon after water was pumped back into the pool, new problems appeared. Algae showed up in the water, and the newly painted surface began to peel in at least one spot. The Interior Department said the algae came from leftover water in the pool's supply lines and was part of a normal startup process. The department later said the Nano Bubble system 'very effectively killed the algae.' Workers were seen cleaning out algae and pouring hydrogen peroxide into the water to help fix the problem.