President Donald Trump has attributed patches of dead grass on the National Mall to vandals, asserting the damage occurred near the World War II Memorial. Trump shared an image on Truth Social depicting brown and dead grass in the area, suggesting it was the work of vandals and questioning the integrity of the Reflecting Pool.
"Look what VANDALS did to the grass connecting the vandalized World War II Monument and the vandalized Reflecting Pool, which will be opened again, and better than ever, shortly," Trump wrote on the social media platform. He further stated, "Anybody who thinks the Reflecting Pool wasn’t vandalized should go back to Law School!"
This claim follows a large-scale Independence Day celebration hosted by Trump on the same lawn. Photos from the event show extensive stage structures and seating that covered much of the affected area. Images from the days following the celebration show workers removing this infrastructure, revealing damaged grass underneath.
Trump has a history of blaming vandals for damage to renovation projects in Washington, D.C., at times without evidence and contrary to accounts from his officials. Earlier in August, Trump criticized the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia after her office sought to dismiss a vandalism case. Newly disclosed evidence in that instance indicated widespread liner damage resulting from a flawed installation and a rushed completion for Independence Day events, which undermined the case against the defendant.
Separately, an arrest was made on August 12 in connection with vandalism at the World War II Memorial, where the phrase "Clean hands dirty $" was found painted on the monument, and a fountain was filled with bubbles. Felony charges are being brought against Melissa Farris in that case. However, the charging documents do not reference the specific area of grass damage mentioned in Trump's social media post, nor does Farris's prior arrest for camping on federal property a few blocks away.
On August 1, Trump had posted a different photograph of the same area, which appeared to show the numbers "86 47." Federal officials interpreted this as a threat against Trump, but these numbers were not visible in the image Trump shared on Sunday. Trump cited this earlier image as evidence of vandalism, including damage to the grass, stating, "There may have been some contractor difficulty, but the major damage was caused by VANDALS!" The photographs of the event infrastructure do not by themselves establish the cause of all the grass damage.