President Donald Trump has sharply criticized U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro's assessment that damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool resulted from faulty construction, directly contradicting his assertion that vandals were responsible.
Pirro's office filed a court document Friday seeking to drop criminal charges against former Olympian David Hearn, who had been accused of intentionally damaging the pool during a renovation ahead of the nation's 250th birthday celebration. The dismissal represents a setback for the Justice Department, which had previously supported Trump's claims.
Trump acknowledged in a social media post that "there may have been some contractor difficulty" with the installation of a new pool liner but maintained that "the major damage was caused by VANDALS!" He stated, "I disagree 100% with Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, on the Reflecting Pool."
Government lawyers stated in their 20-page filing that newly acquired documents from the Interior Department indicate the damage stemmed from a "botched installation by a contractor" and the "rush to complete the project" before the America 250 celebration surrounding Independence Day 2026. A recent inspection also revealed widespread damage throughout the pool, including areas unlikely to be targeted by a vandal.
Hearn was accused of pulling up a two-foot square section of the pool's lining. Pirro, a Trump appointee, argued in her filing that the newly discovered information makes it "difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism, let alone to establish that fact beyond a reasonable doubt." She also blamed the Interior Department for providing "less than fulsome information at the outset of the case."
Hearn's legal team criticized both Trump and Pirro, stating that Trump was upset because Pirro "finally admitted what we made clear in our legal filings all along: Trump’s botched renovation was responsible for the damage — not Davey Hearn." The team also dismissed Pirro's claim of being misled by Interior, asserting that their own filings had repeatedly shown the administration's responsibility for the pool's failures.
Trump also shared a video appearing to be from a security camera, showing individuals with their hands in the pool, with one person in the water for an extended period. Trump claimed the video shows "material is being cut with a knife or a box cutter, for all to see!" However, the video, shot from a distance, does not clearly depict vandalism, and nearby workers do not appear to react to the individuals in the water.
In May, Trump announced plans to beautify the Reflecting Pool, and Atlantic Industrial Coatings was awarded a $14.7 million no-bid contract for the work. The project involved draining the water and painting the pool's floor. Problems emerged within days of completion, with sections of the new liner peeling off. The National Park Service reported an incident on June 9 involving a sharp object cutting the liner, which Trump quickly attributed to vandals.