“Trump has created many myths about himself – master dealmaker, ladies man, greatest president of all time – but none stand up to scrutiny quite so poorly as the idea that he’s a real estate genius and a master builder”

“I have two jobs,” Donald Trump told reporters in December. “I have a construction job, which is really like relaxation for me, because I’ve have been doing it all my life.”

This week, while Trump has been enjoying his UFC extravaganza at the White House and snoozing through the G7 in France, the airwaves and social media have been paying attention to a far more grotesque spectacle unfolding in Washington DC – the algae in the Lincoln reflecting pool.

A few months ago, Trump rounded reporters up in the Oval Office for an announcement – he was going to clean the world famous landmark right up. The location of Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream speech” had become run down and horrible to look at, he said. So he’d spoken to some people and cancelled the $300million renovation, planning for which was well underway, and which would have replaced the rock surface and filtration system to make a long-lasting, sustainably cleaner pool.

But that was going to take too long. He needed it looking like he could drink out of it in time for July 4th, when he’ll host the 250th Independence Day celebrations right next to it at the Lincoln Memorial.

So, he told everyone, he called in some of the guys who did his pools at his many hotels (although there’s some question about whether this part was actually true). And he handed it to a firm who said that in a week they could completely resurface the huge man-made lake with industrial-grade swimming pool surfacing material in American Flag Blue. It would take a week, he said, and cost about $1.5million.

When it was finally complete, it had taken five weeks and one day, and cost something in the region of $14million.

And almost as soon as it was filled up with water, it turned not American Flag Blue, but swamp green. Algae had infested the pool, apparently hanging around in the pipes from before it was cleaned. So the whole pool had to be cleaned again by men in waders wafting “nanobubble” hoses around.

(Trump had also promised a robot would swim around the pool cleaning it after the refurb was done, but we’ve seen no trace of that so far.)

Workers were seen dumping gallons of gallons of hydrogen peroxide into the water, which cleaned it up a bit round the edges, but the centre of the pool remains to this moment stubbornly green.

And then people started to notice that in at least one part of the pool, the $14 million surface had already started to peel away and a huge chunk was flapping about above the surface of the water.

Trump has created many myths about himself – master dealmaker, ladies man, greatest president of all time – but none stand up to scrutiny quite so poorly as the idea that he’s a real estate genius and a master builder.

There are many cases of Trump’s real estate projects going south, either through poor planning, rushed execution or cutting corners.

In the 1980s, the Trump Taj Mahal – which he said would be the “eighth wonder of the world” – opened in Atlantic City. And it was chaos. It opened six hours late, the cash machines didn’t work, slot machines were broken, water pressure failed on upper floors, room keys didn’t work, and the spa, salon, stores and child-care center wouldn’t open for months. It was financed with junk bonds and filed for bankruptcy after just 15 months.

Then there was Trump Tower Tampa – a 52-floor landmark waterfront property planned for a stretch of land that could not support such a structure. A consultant testified he knew in five minutes the developer was never going to finish the project or deliver it on time. It was never built. Buyers lost up to $250,000. Some who sued recovered as little as $11,115. Others got nothing.

Yet in the US he’s managed to successfully cultivate this reputation that, while he’s a terrible President, at least he’s good at building things. And that’s going to come into sharp focus once the rest of his planned projects in Washington DC start to materialise.

First, of course, there’s the Ballroom, and the six-storey militarised complex beneath it – for which he unilaterally ordered the demolition of a third of the White House. They’re in court over that one, but he’s continuing with the build regardless.

Next there’s the Arc De Trump, a towering triumphal arch which would dwarf most other monuments on Washington’s modest, classical skyline. He’s in court over that one too, but guess what? Excavation work has begun for the columns regardless.

And most recently there’s the Trump Promenade, a walkway connecting the back of the Lincoln memorial to the Potomac River to the west. Of all of the planned projects this one would actually be an improvement – the roads behind Lincoln are a nightmare for pedestrians, and the view across the river is genuinely lovely.

But given his history of disasters and bodge jobs, most recently the hilarious fumbling of the Lincoln reflecting pool, American taxpayers shouldn’t hold out much hope for any of these projects actually arriving on time, on budget or without serious structural issues. He may well be about to irrevocably ruin one of the most iconic cities in the world, and nobody can stop him.