President Donald Trump spent the weekend insisting that vandals damaged his Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovations despite his own administration admitting there wasn’t sufficient evidence, ratcheting up pressure on U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro to reverse course after she dropped related criminal charges.
On Sunday, the president posted an image of court documents on Truth Social, writing that a “highly credible witness” saw David Hearn, a 67-year-old former Olympian, “violently” rip the pool’s newly redone coating.
“The National Park Service employee provided this witness testimony to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in early July,” wrote Trump, making a pointed reference to Pirro’s office, which has argued that park officials failed to turn over relevant information.
The president added that others had done “substantial” harm to the pool but there was “no video or proof” beyond the damage itself.
Hearn has pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing.
One day earlier, the president posted photos showing peeling coating and apparent graffiti, each marked with the word “Vandalism.”
The move follows sharp criticism from the president on Friday, when he publicly urged Pirro to “re-visit her hastily made decision.”
Pirro’s office previously concluded that contractors working on renovation efforts caused the damage rather than criminal actors.
But Trump has repeatedly blamed maintenance issues and declining water quality on alleged sabotage following a controversial project in which he ordered the pool drained and painted with a “American flag blue” liner.
The rift escalated after Pirro moved to drop charges against Hearn, after court filings revealed the administration failed to produce evidence against him and admitted the damage resulted from a botched installation.
Trump publicly unloaded on the prosecutor from the Oval Office. “I was disappointed in Jeanine Pirro. Really disappointed with Jeanine Pirro. She folded like an umbrella,” he told reporters.
The president claimed she “choked” due to pressure from the judge overseeing the case. “Instead of going after the people who did it, he went after her, and went after her department, and I guess she choked. I don’t know what the hell happened,” he said.
Reporters questioned Trump on whether he planned to fire Pirro over the decision, as reported by CNN, prompting him to tell one journalist that “you’re fake news” and “don’t ever talk again.”
Pirro had initially claimed Hearn “woefully destroyed property” in a “deliberate act,” but her office later acknowledged in court documents that the Interior Department provided “less than fulsome information” and that the blue sealant began peeling “almost immediately” due to a rushed process.
“The Trump administration's case against Davey Hearn should have never been brought,” according to a statement to The Independent from Hearn’s attorneys. “The government’s approach was ready, fire, aim. The administration owes Mr. Hearn an apology.”
The high-profile refurbishment project — which bypassed standard competitive bidding to award a $14.7 million contract to Atlantic Industrial Coatings LLC — was meant to be finished quickly for $1.5 million ahead of Fourth of July celebrations, according to the president. However, early rain, wind and missed testing deadlines led to rushed work that quickly deteriorated, with algae soon returning to the pool along with peeling paint.
In addition to the photos posted late Saturday, Trump shared a screenshot from X to support his claims of criminal activity.
“The material was cut right where the video tape showed, for 300 feet or more. People were on their knees with their hands in the water at the exact location of the ‘slashes,’” Trump wrote. “Additionally, there were witnesses to the VANDALISM, and the flexible areas of the material were cut with a knife.”
Trump had earlier asserted that vandals used a box cutter or knife to create a nearly 300-foot slit in the lining of the pool, while also claiming that fertilizer was poured into the water to trigger rapid algae growth.
“Jeanine Pirro made a mistake. It was vandalism,” Trump said Monday.
“We have photographs or tapes, like moving cameras, right? Where people are on the side cutting it with a box knife,” he added. “Now, I’m not saying I was 100 percent thrilled with the contractor, but the contractor was rushing. We wanted to get it open for July 4th, and we got it done. But, in addition, there was vandalism.”
