Story perspectives

Trump Admin Awards $1.7 M No-Bid Contract; Algae Reappear.

6/19/2026

Summary

Story summary

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration awarded a $1.7 million no-bid contract, bypassing the National Park Service’s usual competitive-bidding process, to clean the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
The contract is held by Greenwater Services, owned by the J.J. Cafaro Investment Trust led by donor John J. Cafaro, linked to a bribery scandal.
Algae have returned to the Reflecting Pool, showing the new purification system has not produced clear water.

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Story summary

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration awarded a $1.7 million no-bid contract, bypassing the National Park Service’s usual competitive-bidding process, to clean the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
The contract is held by Greenwater Services, owned by the J.J. Cafaro Investment Trust led by donor John J. Cafaro, linked to a bribery scandal.
Algae have returned to the Reflecting Pool, showing the new purification system has not produced clear water.