{"id":8603,"date":"2026-08-04T04:07:39","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T04:07:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=8603"},"modified":"2026-08-04T04:07:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T04:07:39","slug":"how-trumps-claims-of-vandalism-at-the-renovated-reflecting-pool-crumbled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=8603","title":{"rendered":"How Trump\u2019s claims of vandalism at the renovated Reflecting Pool crumbled"},"content":{"rendered":"

Trump has lashed out at U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro after she dropped vandalism cases and blamed damage at the pool on rushed and flawed work by a contractor.<\/strong><\/p>

Read more Alex Eala, Taylor Fritz win DC Open titles after Sunday\u2019s rain delay<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is closed until Aug. 10 for more renovations. (Christine Kao\/The Washington Post)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Standing on the basin of the Lincoln Memorial\u2019s Reflecting Pool in early May, President Donald Trump promised to <\/b>fix the leaks and other problems that had long <\/b>plagued one of the capital\u2019s most recognizable landmarks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to last, I would say 50 years,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019ll last, it\u2019s going to last a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump vowed to finish the job in time for July Fourth celebrations on the National Mall. He and his aides cast the project, launched with a multimillion-dollar no-bid contract<\/u><\/a> and without the normal review process, as a demonstration<\/a> of how quickly the longtime real estate magnate could transform Washington.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s changes instead lasted a few days. The basin\u2019s coating began to visibly peel, with chunks of Trump\u2019s new pool liner<\/a>, tinted \u201cAmerican Flag Blue,\u201d littering the surface and algae blooms<\/a> clouding the water.<\/p>\n

Since then, the administration\u2019s response \u2014 to blame \u201cvandals\u201d for the damage \u2014 has morphed into a political headache, raising questions about what leaders in the administration knew as the government pursued criminal charges against four people, including former U.S. Olympian David Hearn<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The president is furious at one of his most ardent supporters, Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the nation\u2019s capital, for dropping vandalism charges against the four people in recent days. Prosecutors in a Friday court filing blamed the damage<\/a> on flawed installation work and said the Interior Department had not shared critical information in a timely manner.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
A piece of the blue paint from the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial\u2019s Reflecting Pool on June 18. (Christine Kao\/The Washington Post)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Trump lashed out at Pirro on social media and delivered a \u201cvery pointed\u201d message in a phone call Saturday, a White House official said. On Monday, he renewed the criticism from the Oval Office, saying she had \u201cfolded like an umbrella.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Reflecting Pool project, intended as a showcase for Trump\u2019s ability to quickly <\/b>get things done, has instead become a speed bump in his second term. Its problem-riddled rollout comes as Trump presses ahead with larger and more complex projects that would remake Washington\u2019s skyline, including a new White House ballroom<\/a> and a 250-foot-tall triumphal arch<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The pool was drained again July 10 for more repairs.<\/p>\n

Government <\/b>records \u201cstrongly suggest that a rushed and botched installation by AIC, the primary contractor,\u201d led to the visible damage in the pool\u2019s new liner, Pirro and one of her deputies wrote in the filing Friday. Pirro accused the Interior Department of withholding <\/b>relevant documents that would have scuttled the investigation.<\/p>\n

The pool\u2019s problems had sparked tirades from Trump inside the White House, and the president soon grew angry for another reason: Pirro did not give the White House a heads-up about dropping the charges, a White House official said. The president spoke with her by phone Saturday to discuss the decision, a call first reported by CNN.<\/p>\n

Trump publicly turned his ire on Pirro <\/b>too, saying on social media <\/b>he disagreed \u201c100%\u201d with her decision and again insisting that vandals were <\/b>to blame. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum chimed in to agree that vandals \u201crepeatedly\u201d damaged the site, claiming the acts were caught on camera and insisting his agency had been forthcoming with Justice Department lawyers.<\/p>\n

The White House and Interior Department declined further comment, referring to Trump and Burgum\u2019s posts. Atlantic Industrial Coatings, the contractor, did not respond to repeated requests for comment.<\/p>\n

Outside observers for weeks had dismissed claims of widespread vandalism. <\/b>A Washington Post analysis<\/a> of satellite imagery and photos and videos taken in June during the renovation concluded that the basin\u2019s peeling was probably caused by application errors. <\/b>Waterproofing experts who reviewed the evidence reached the same conclusion.<\/p>\n

The administration publicly disputed that the coating had been improperly applied, but on Monday, Trump acknowledged some frustration with contractors\u2019 work.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not saying I was 100 percent thrilled with the contractor, but the contractor was rushing,\u201d he said in the Oval Office, noting that workers had a tight deadline. He saved his sharpest words for Pirro.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess she choked. I don\u2019t know what the hell happened,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Pirro, <\/b>a former Fox News host, had been a staunch defender of the president before joining his administration, and in her current role had pursued several claims of wrongdoing involving Trump\u2019s perceived political foes \u2014 having setbacks in court<\/a> along the way, including a failed attempt to prosecute a D.C. man for misdemeanor assault after throwing a sandwich at a federal agent last year.<\/p>\n

The 20-page filing<\/a> by prosecutors to drop Hearn\u2019s case was extraordinary not only because it contradicted what Trump and Pirro had said publicly about charges, but because it painstakingly outlined Interior Department documents showing problems with the liner\u2019s installation and how prosecutors came to feel deceived. Pirro reviewed and signed off on the motion after speaking with Michael Spence, the chief of the unit handling Superior Court cases in the U.S. attorney\u2019s office, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.<\/p>\n

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Former U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn, center, exits a D.C. courthouse in July. (Elizabeth Frantz\/Reuters)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Norm Eisen, a lawyer for Hearn, said he did not accept the claim that the Justice Department was unaware of evidence indicating Hearn\u2019s innocence. Eisen cited public photographs and reports demonstrating that the damage probably stemmed from contractor errors<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea that Jeanine Pirro and her office were somehow hornswoggled by Interior is not credible,\u201d Eisen said.<\/p>\n

This account is drawn from interviews with <\/b>Justice, Interior and White House officials as well as public statements and documents disclosed by the Trump administration in legal battles over the Reflecting Pool. <\/b>Some of the people spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss matters publicly.<\/p>\n

Trump decided to revamp the century-old pool early this year, saying that friends had criticized the historic site\u2019s appearance and <\/b>smell.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was getting complaints from people saying that it wasn\u2019t good,\u201d Trump <\/b>told reporters. \u201cI called Doug [Burgum] and he agreed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pool\u2019s last significant renovation began during the Obama administration, took several years and cost $34 million<\/a>. Trump concluded he could do it much faster and far cheaper.<\/p>\n

The president also believed he could personally drive the project, having transformed the relationship between the White House and National Park Service staff. Trump had torn down the White House\u2019s East Wing to build a planned 90,000-square-foot ballroom addition, begun planning a triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery and envisioned other major projects on federal parkland, such as renovating several golf courses. The pool, in comparison, felt straightforward, Trump would tell allies.<\/p>\n

The administration had also stripped away layers between on-the-ground Park Service employees and senior Interior and White House officials. Many senior Park Service employees left amid U.S. DOGE Service cuts last year that reduced the agency\u2019s staff by about a quarter, leaving fewer experienced officials between junior staff and political appointees.<\/p>\n

Officials with little historic preservation experience wound up making construction decisions while Park Service staff with experience renovating the Mall would end up being sidelined.<\/p>\n

By March, the National Park Service was fast-tracking the pool <\/b>project at the White House\u2019s direction. The changes, which included applying a new tinted epoxy to its basin, did not undergo the normally required reviews because \u201cthere is no option other\u201d than to speed the project to meet the administration\u2019s timeline, a Park Service official wrote in a March 30 document.<\/p>\n

Trump unveiled<\/a> the project in the Oval Office on April 23, releasing an accompanying promotional video later that day and calling it a \u201cbusiness study.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will look far more beautiful, more beautiful than it did in 1922 when they built it,\u201d Trump said. Rather than spend years and potentially hundreds of millions of dollars, he said, his renovation would cost less than $2 million and take less than two weeks. That cost would later balloon.<\/p>\n

Almost immediately, historic preservationists and past administration<\/a> officials cautioned Trump was moving too quickly.<\/p>\n

Charles A. Birnbaum, who heads the Cultural Landscape Foundation, an education and advocacy organization focused on historic sites, said after Trump\u2019s announcement that he didn\u2019t understand how \u201csomething so important could be changed without testing\u201d the new materials.<\/p>

Read more Nationals trade breakout starter Foster Griffin to Guardians<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe notion has been, do the work and ask questions later,\u201d Birnbaum said, referencing Trump\u2019s other local construction projects, such as his demolition of the White House\u2019s East Wing to build a new ballroom. Birnbaum\u2019s group also sued to stop<\/a> the pool project, although a judge rejected an injunction.<\/p>\n

The work on the pool began May 5, as contractors cleaned the site and began spraying a specialized protective coating, Rhino 406, on a portion of the basin, according to the Justice Department. Then on May 6 it rained, forcing workers to pause for a day.<\/p>\n

Behind the scenes, warning signs came quickly.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt appears AIC is significantly behind schedule,\u201d an employee with a contractor responsible for monitoring AIC\u2019s progress wrote in an email shared with Interior Department officials on May 7, according to the Justice Department.<\/p>\n

More delays followed. Rain repeatedly halted work, and contractors ran out of Rhino 406 on May 18, forcing another pause until more supplies arrived, according to the Justice Department.<\/p>\n

The job was largely complete by June 7, and workers began refilling the pool. A final inspection was held June 9, the Justice Department wrote, as the pool officially opened \u2014 one month later, and costing more than $12 million more than Trump had originally promised.<\/p>\n

The cleaned-up pool initially won some <\/b>bipartisan praise, and the president posted a flurry of photos to his social media account. Trump also shared images of the pool looking grimy and filled with trash \u2014 saying that was its appearance under predecessor Joe Biden \u2014 compared with a pristine pool that he said was due to his leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody\u2019s looking at that reflecting pool; they can\u2019t believe it reflects,\u201d Trump said in the Oval Office the following day. \u201cWhen I\u2019m here, it\u2019ll be perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
The Reflecting Pool during renovations on June 30. (Al Drago\/For The Washington Post)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

The next day, a Park Service engineer concluded that the pool\u2019s new liner had already begun to peel, blaming contractor error, according to documents released Friday by the Justice Department.<\/p>\n

Soon, passersby noticed the peeling too. Hearn told The Post that when he visited the pool on June 19, he saw a piece of liner that was already partially detached from the pool bottom and reached into the water to see what it felt like.<\/p>\n

He was quickly arrested<\/a> by U.S. Park Police officers and charged with vandalizing the site. More arrests followed.<\/p>\n

The charges gave administration officials cover for their claim that the pool\u2019s problems stemmed from deliberate damage. But none of those arrested were accused of the most serious conduct that Trump publicly alleged \u2014 using blades or chemicals to damage the liner.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey took some form of knife or blade, and put a 250 foot long gash into the beautiful facade of what took so much work, competence, and money to build and complete. They also poured corrosive and destructive chemicals into the Pool,\u201d Trump wrote on Truth Social on June 20, increasing the length of the gash to 300 and then 350 feet in subsequent posts.<\/p>\n

Frank Lands, the Park Service\u2019s deputy director, also told a federal judge in a separate case on June 24 that foam sealant on the pool had been \u201ccut with a sharp knife or razor.\u201d Lands, a former Army deputy garrison commander who joined the Park Service in 2021, had become a central figure in carrying out Trump\u2019s policies in Washington. He declined to comment to The Post.<\/p>\n

Pirro, whose office handles prosecutions of both local and federal crimes in D.C., initially <\/b>framed the alleged vandalism as an assault on Americans\u2019 shared heritage. She visited the pool on July 1 to inspect the damage, according to court records. When a grand jury indicted Hearn the next day on a felony charge of destruction of property \u2014 the sole felony vandalism charge pursued in connection with the pool \u2014 Pirro gave a news conference and later a Fox News interview in which she described him \u201cforcefully and violently\u201d tugging at the liner with both hands and shouting at a Park Service employee who told him to stop.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t charge anything harshly,\u201d she told reporters at the time, adding that \u201cthere was tremendous damage.\u201d<\/p>\n

But inside the U.S. attorney\u2019s office, frustration was building with Interior officials, who had yet to furnish the information prosecutors were requesting about the damage to the pool. All the prosecutors had were a set of \u201cbare-bones\u201d police reports from the Park Service officers who had arrested Hearn and three other defendants who were charged with misdemeanor offenses, according to a Justice Department filing.<\/p>\n

When Hearn\u2019s defense team toured the site on July 17, Pirro visited again. With the pool drained, prosecutors could see the damage more clearly, according to her office\u2019s court filing. The peeling wasn\u2019t just around the edges, court papers say, but in the middle of the pool too \u2014 spots that would have been very difficult for vandals to reach.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, during a news conference in July. (Anna Moneymaker\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Pirro <\/b>said her office immediately requested Interior Department records about the liner installation process.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese documents indicated a rushed and flawed installation process, with repeated failures of the lining during the installation process, and extensive peeling of the lining throughout the Reflecting Pool,\u201d Pirro\u2019s office said in the court filing. The records included emails and reports documenting the liner\u2019s installation flaws, rain-related setbacks, blistering and peeling \u2014 all of it in writing before the charges had been filed in court.<\/p>\n

\u201cHad [the Interior Department] been forthcoming with the information clearly in its possession, the government would not have sought a grand jury indictment,\u201d the filing said.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors also dropped the charges against the three people facing misdemeanors.<\/p>\n

One of them, Justin Carreno, lost his job as a government contractor because of the case and suffered reputational damage, according to his lawyer David Benowitz.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe charge never should have been brought in the first place,\u201d Benowitz said.<\/p>\n

The Justice Department could try to charge the cases again, but it would be difficult given prosecutors\u2019 conclusions in the filing.<\/p>\n

Trump has seemingly continued his own investigation.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, the president shared security footage on Truth Social that showed people with their hands in the reflecting pool. \u201cLook for yourselves at the VANDALISM that took place at The Reflecting Pool,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThe material is being cut with a knife or a box cutter, for all to see!\u201d The video shows three people reaching into the water along the north edge of the pool, but it is not clear whether anyone is holding a knife or a box cutter.<\/p>\n

The video appears to be a longer version of a clip previously shared by the U.S. Park Police<\/a> on June 24 seeking the public\u2019s help identifying a person in the footage. Police said it was recorded on June 19 at 3:36 p.m., roughly an hour before Hearn was approached by officers.<\/p>\n

The saga has angered congressional Democrats, who have launched investigations into Trump\u2019s project and say that passersby never should have been arrested, and left some Republican lawmakers bemused and befuddled.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty close to a textbook definition of kakistocracy,\u201d said Rep. Jared Huffman (D-California), the top Democrat on a House committee that oversees the national parkland where the Reflecting Pool is located. \u201cPirro is between the proverbial rock and a hard place \u2014 getting fired if she tells the truth, or getting disbarred if she continues to lie.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the Republicans struggling to make sense of the episode was Sen. John Kennedy (R-Louisiana).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole thing is a multiple vehicle pileup,\u201d he said Sunday on NBC\u2019s \u201cMeet the Press,\u201d musing about Trump and Pirro\u2019s motivations. \u201cI don\u2019t know why she filed the suit without doing a full investigation. She says she relied on the Department of Interior. But she was smart to pull it back.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pool is closed until Aug. 10 for more renovations, the administration has said in court filings.<\/p>

Read more Why Trump is lashing out at Chevron amid profit windfall<\/a><\/p>\n

Isaac Arnsdorf, Perry Stein and Meg Kelly contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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