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Trump highlights a 'pro-algae (likely paid) protester'

natureJun 22, 2026329,706

President Donald Trump reposted a photo mocking a person he labeled "a crazy pro-algae (likely paid) protestor," whose sign read 'First they came for the algae...' . The sign alludes to the famous post World War II "First they came..." statement about Germans not speaking out against Nazis, and Trump framed the image as evidence of organized, paid agitation around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The repost came after Trump told reporters that vandals had cut holes and that "pro-algae protesters" were creating algae in the Reflecting Pool. This matters because the president is using a satirical image and routine public-space maintenance to portray symbolic changes as politically weaponized, shaping public perception of his claims.

Katie Mack
@astrokatie.com

Algae are prolific producers of oxygen (and consumers of carbon dioxide), en masse producing a huge proportion of the oxygen we breathe, which means that the greening of the Reflecting Pool might be the most pro-climate thing Trump has ever done.

6427Yesterday
inahays.bsky.social349

I'd argue closing the strait of Hormuz gives it a run for their money

V_Mags_Fox 🔜 AC31

“Welcome to the Trump Federally Protected Wetland.”

Steel Rat Gamer18

Green new deal, with the tallest pool in the world

JerryB18

Like I keep saying. Algae has a well known liberal bias.

Professionally Certified Woolgatherer12

Don't forget allowing Covid to spiral out of control, leading to months of carless streets!

GreenEngineer12

Gas at $6 a gallong would like a word… That’s something that no president has ever achieved before.

Patrick11

It was the Green New Deal none of us expected from him.

Jonathan Bliss8

iirc, algae contributed to Neoproterozoic Oxygenation Event and thus explosion of life forms 500 mya

Tina S7

Too funny. He accidentally fell in to a liberalism.

Blue Skies In Utah6

iran has closed the reflecting pool.

Zoe Samuel4

Closing Hormuz is probably a bigger deal in terms of long-term impact, but yes, credit for the CDR project in the Reflecting Pool as a more immediate pro-climate move.

Tessa Hill4

Haha I just posted nearly the same thing!

markabian ambassador (ret.)4

maybe they’re making vegan soylent green to feed the nation

TheKingOfPies3

Still convinced this is the only scenario where he would be an environmentalist:

bflmouse.bsky.social3

Trumps screwing with both the solar panel market inside the US and the oil market globally has done more to advance renewable energy worldwide than decades of climate activism. It's probably fairer to say that all the positive things Trump has done have happened by accident rather than by design.

Stephen Murphy3

Lovely way to ‘reflect’ on the whole episode. 😂 Personally I think attacking Iran will be the list pro-climate thing any American president has ever done.

William R Knecht3

Unless they're cyanobacteria, in which case ingesting them will turn your brain into Jello & you'll start voting Republican.

sunnyjim.bsky.social2

I love this because he will hate it

vILLAGE GENIOUS2

idk I've seen a lot of EVs with temp plates on them around my parts recently so I think the gas prices thing might be a decent shout

tom2

bold of you to declare war on aquarium owners like this 🤨

Green Hombre2

Establishing Iran as the global carbon tax administrator is pro-climate as well. Climate activists are amused by the turn of events.

Some gaze of raccoons2

Something something something Green Party

Some Random Dave2

If he's not controlling the algae, he's probably also not controlling mosquitoes. (However, they're not, as a species, an endangered species, so no environmental points there.)

Randy Tayler2

"Draining the swamp" was an anti-environmentalist agenda the whole time?

Brian Dear2

Yes but to balance all that oxygen goodness they’re using big filthy diesel generators to power pumps to drain the Pool into the Potomac, so I’m sure in the end this’ll add another ppm or two of CO2 to the atmosphere.

Aaron Rupar
@atrupar.com

Trump: “Here is another example of a crazy pro-algae (likely paid) protestor. The sign says, ‘First they came for the algae…’ which is in reference to a famous post-WW2 statement about Germans not speaking out against Nazis ‘…Then they came for the Jews, & I did not speak out—bc I was not a Jew “

Trump: “Here is another example of a crazy pro-algae (likely paid) protestor. 

The sign says, ‘First they came for the algae…’ which is in reference to a famous post-WW2 statement about Germans not speaking out against the Nazis: 

‘…Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.’”
18154h ago
JackInPNW458

Satire requires intelligence to appreciate it. I understand Trump's confusion.

Philo of Alexan226

I didn’t know it was protest frog migration season already

Seth Masket107

Sir it’s your contention that people are being paid to protest algae?

Qouthraven106

Hahaha the fact that he even feels the address it means it’s getting to him

Jules64

He didn't write that. He wouldn't have gotten the reference.

Walter (dead)44

Very proud of our large wet boy for getting the joke

Mick Muldoon19

The man can’t admit to anything. No guilt. No empathy. No understanding.

Ty McBrayer15

Trump is losing his mind over this. Who knew single celled organisms could defeat a man with a single brain cell. Keep up the good work! , Team Algae. Personal upside, I’ll never misspell algae again.

jamgui.bsky.social13

No inappropriate caps, no "!!!", no "MAGA" at the end... This post is not from the Orange guy

Leslie A. Larson12

Steven Miller in the house.

Brexit Bin 🇪🇺 🇬🇧 🇩🇪11

SPOILER ALERT: In the original version of the poem he's referring to, the fascists first came for the Communists, the Trade Unionists and the Social Democrats – all targets of the Trump regime.

Van Alan10

It’s been 10 years and I still can’t believe the President of the United States is this fucking stupid

GC Rust10

I said it yesterday: 80 year old man doesn't understand real life shitposting.

Tyrant Biggles8

I haven't heard a conspiracy theory as crazy as Trump's Algaegate since Laura Loomer wanted new tires.

Love Wins Always8

Some of Trump's posts are obviously from him, but I don't think he'd know this quote in a million years—or describe it this way if he saw it.

Ryan Leonard8

Is is possible to have a negative sense of humor?

Jerry Shaver8

trump clearly didn't write that. He doesn't have any idea what the sign is referencing.

Christian Petersen7

Meanwhile, at the nation's capital...

Granuailynn6

When you have absolutely no sense of humor...or empathy...you cannot comprehend things like satire...or other people who think differently from you...b/c they do...

Terrible Band Names6

It's odd how Trump and his ilk never quote the rest of the poem. hmd.org.uk/resource/fir...

John Wares6

My god he almost understands

Dave Domingo6

I miss the days when "the president is an idiot" was hyperbole.

Mastiff Mom5

More satire, the sign is peeling

Sergeant Swamp💙5

He keeps spinning the story to deflect his stupid failure.

drwhofan1.bsky.social5

But all frogs are pro-algae.

Tenebrae Wyatt5

Why is the dumbest, most tone-deaf, and least read human in charge of this country? I feel like I'm being represented by a sandcastle.

arknet5

At this point, he's at a stage where if he's challenged in the right environment in the right way, by the right reporter, he might really lash out. Don't know what Republicans will do after that. It's very possible Mitch McConnell is already done. Four months is a long time to keep this up.

The Duchess of Snork5

Just a reminder that these microorganisms rose from nothing. They are here in the Reflecting Pool because they worked hard, overcame obstacles, and persevered. It's a real life Horatio Algae story.

Netaloid 📸5

One of his aides clued him in to the reference. He's dumb as a brick & never would've gotten it himself

❀°。Der Siebenschläfer *.゚✿ ⋆5

”alone, we are tiny and weak like chlamydomonas but join me, and we can stand proud cell wall to cell wall like volvocaceae!”

Karl Mathews 🌱4

ROFL paid algae protestors! OMG! Call out the national guard!

badhabitfun.bsky.social4

Oh the money he wasted on this. 😂😂😂

jimtragos.bsky.social4

Trump didn't write that. That's for sure. "A famous post-WW2 statement" isn't a difficult phrase for your average 7th grader, but it's a bridge way, way too far for the orange ignoramous.

Susan Behrens4

Trump seriously tweeted out the frog 🐸??? Quick, some reporter please get a mic in that frog’s face and interview him/her in costume. 😆 🤣

Denverite4

I would like to think no one is stupid enough to think someone is pro-algae, but I have unfortunately seen clips of true believes doing the most insane mental gymnastics to justify Trump, even when played clips that directly contradict what they just claimed

HPMG4

Trump didn’t right that post ‘In reference to ‘ is a too well constructed phrase for him

KeysInHand4

So... which social media manager confiscated his phone for more then 2 seconds to write that. I mean dumb has a b in it, we all know he can't actually read.

Patrick Windrose4

Nazis need to keep Niemöller out of their mouths.

SiviSpacemanPablum4

Wow, he’s really close to getting it

😈 Leela The Monster 🧛‍♀️4

Who wrote this for him? Shitler wouldn't know that quote.

Blake3

Someone should alert DOGE that the park service is running a biodiversity study.

Mash3

Omg now I know the frog is out there. Trump is stupider than I thought was humanly possible.

drawpipe.bsky.social3

Why is he so familiar with the saying? I wonder….

Junkyard Bard3

We're through the looking glass.

chrisonthetrails.bsky.social3

the tl;dr of this post: “I am pathetically easy to troll.”

bluelenses3

Just now realizing that I too am pro-algae

Jason Smith3

Not a single chance he wrote this. He wouldn’t know a WWII reference if it sat on his face and yelled it in his ear.

Paul Davidson3

Pink frog person is 100% not being paid to do that!

Liam B3

Now we know he didn’t write this one.

intotheblue123.bsky.social3

That woman’s wildest dreams have come true

66ALW993

Paid by... Big Algae? Is that a thing? 🤔

watchutalkinboutwillis3

frogs like swamps It's not that complicated

Lizard3

Have you verified this is a legit post?

Justin.3

Trump has algae derangement syndrome. You hate to see it

Happening Again2

yeah, trump, you're the nazi they're warning about

Chris Richter2

The only thing funnier than a straight man that just doesn’t get it, is a straight man that doesn’t get it that everyone hates.

Turing Pest2

What cracks me up is that I *know* somebody had to whisper in his ear who Niemöller was & what it meant 💀🤡

onekhzMKE2

Amphifa is not saying "Boo-Urns!"

Microfilm2

This man has zero sense of humor, actually negative-numbers sense of humor. What a fckng pill he is.

Paul Lee2

Well at least we know he didnt write that.

. . . - - - . . .🇨🇦🇺🇦2

I don’t believe he wrote that for 1 minute.

Do you wonder about life?2

Didn't the frogs 🐸 come from the #algae?

blu71.bsky.social2

He's covering up for yet another failed project! Everything that man touches turns to shit!!

Science Optimist 🌌 ☀️ 🪐 🌎 🌗2

Not Trump's usual voice, or his ghost writer's. Reads like it was written by AI. Also there's not really any point to the post, which again suggests AI.

ProudSocialist⚛️💙🏳️‍🌈🌈🏳️‍⚧️🇺🇦2

Looks like Stephen Miller's writing this shit. There is no way that this orange piece of shit is writing this at all.

W.A. Kuemmel2

“A lot of people don’t know this …”

Greatest American Hero 2

After the first sentence, it reads like an AI summary.

You’ll Never Walk Alone2

The pool thing might actually end up being his demise. 😂

thefullcooler2

I really hope this is the note we end on

Michael MyArse 🏆2

Damn, if someone paid me to wear this costume it would be the best job ever

curmudgeonesse.bsky.social2

Then they came for the lilypads...

kasialove.bsky.social2

I think this is my all time favorite post of his

Hayden2

🎼What’s it all about, Algae? 🎶 Is it just for the moment with yoouuuu? 🎶

shit-the-nyt-says.bsky.social2

Wow, they trolled the president so hard that he couldn't ignore it.

Lexx Moya2

This is it. This is why he wants people arrested and making up lies about vandals. It was a botched job and he is embarrassed and lying to soothe his ego.

TekNeex2

Damn, so he’s out there just comparing himself to Nazis now? Gotta be honest, I didn’t have that one on my bingo card.

ponyspaws.bsky.social2

Trump’s tiny little brain can’t figure out that they’re making fun of him. Instead, he thinks it’s some deep state conspiracy to vandalize the reflecting pool.

Rhiv2

The frogs have joined with algae!

Kentucky Hills2

Satire is an art completely lost to him.

André Lambelet2

They really are dum(b)er than slime mold, aren't they?

Ken2

Even if it’s possible to put policy aside the way he uses social media is beyond unbecoming for any public official. He thinks he’s the most disrespected because the other guys didn’t rage tweet/morse code every criticism. Policy aside or not he’s still a little bitch.

Random Sarah2

Someone else wrote that post

H. Perry Horton2

Like most Trump products, try as he might, he'll never, ever sell this.

Plain Simple Garak2

This can't be real.. This has to be artificial unintelligence...

TDub 2

Y’all, this guy has sprung head first into the nutty end of the pool

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