President Trump publicly rebuked his own handpicked U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., Jeanine Pirro, after she moved to dismiss vandalism charges tied to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, a rare and pointed break with a longtime ally.
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday that Pirro had buckled under judicial pressure when she dropped the case against former Olympian David Hearn, who had been accused of damaging the pool's newly applied coating. The president did not hold back about the woman he had personally installed as the capital's top federal prosecutor.
"Frankly, I think she choked because the judge was really vicious," Trump told reporters. "Instead of going after the people that did it, the judge went after her and went after her department, and I guess she choked."
He added bluntly: "She folded like an umbrella."
The episode marks one of the sharpest public clashes between Trump and a member of his own team during his second term. Pirro, a former Fox News host and longtime Trump ally, has not commented publicly since the president began criticizing her over the weekend on social media, where he wrote, "I disagree 100% with Jeanine Pirro." She was spotted walking into the White House on Monday evening, though the purpose of her visit was not disclosed.
The case centered on Hearn, a former Olympian who said he was on a bike ride on June 19 when he stopped at the Reflecting Pool and reached in to examine a section of newly peeled coating. He said he briefly touched a chunk still attached to the side of the pool and let go when a park worker told him to stop.
Pirro moved to dismiss the charges after concluding, at least in Trump's characterization of her assessment, that the damage to the Reflecting Pool resulted from shoddy construction work, not vandalism. Trump rejected that conclusion entirely.
"I was disappointed with Jeanine Pirro, really disappointed," he said from the Oval Office. "I don't know what the hell happened."
Three other individuals, Justin Carreno, Cameron Thiers, and Sophie Dennison-Gibby, also had their charges dropped. All three had been charged with misdemeanor destruction of property valued at less than $1,000 for allegedly removing pieces of paint from the pool. All three had pleaded not guilty at initial court appearances last month.
The dismissals represent a significant reversal for the Justice Department, which had pursued the cases aggressively. Trump, who has shown no hesitation in removing federal officials who fall short of his expectations, ducked questions about whether he would fire Pirro, but his public comments left little ambiguity about his displeasure.
The broader controversy reaches beyond the courtroom and into the contracting process behind the pool's troubled renovation. Atlantic Industrial Coatings, a Virginia-based firm, received a $14.7 million no-bid contract to repaint and waterproof the Reflecting Pool's concrete floor.
Trump himself described the selection process in April, saying he had consulted with a trio of firms that had done swimming pool work at his own properties. Atlantic Industrial Coatings had previously done work at Trump's golf course in Northern Virginia.
"I have a guy who's unbelievable at doing swimming pools. He looked at it. He called me up. He said, 'Sir, we can do something on it.'"
Trump said that in April. On Monday, however, he distanced himself from the contractor. "I didn't know the contractor," he told reporters, before adding: "I'm not saying I was 100% thrilled with the contractor, but the contractor was rushing. We wanted to get it open for July 4th."
Those two statements, the April account of a personal recommendation and the Monday denial of any relationship, sit in direct tension. The administration has not explained the contradiction, and the White House has not said when the new round of repairs will be finished or how much more they will cost.
Crews drained the Reflecting Pool weeks ago to begin another round of work. Trump estimated Monday that the pool would be "fixed" and reopened in roughly one and a half to two weeks. The administration did not seek new bids from other companies for this latest repair effort.
House Oversight Committee Democrats have taken an interest in the contracting arrangement, sending a letter to Atlantic Industrial Coatings. The letter's contents were not publicly detailed in available reporting.
Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican and lawyer who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, weighed in on Pirro's handling of the case with a pointed warning about the standards federal prosecutors must meet.
"All I know is, you better not go before a federal judge and make allegations you can't back up. They are very serious about it."
Kennedy also predicted that Hearn would seek legal recourse against the government, either through a lawsuit or a claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act, the federal law that allows private citizens to sue the government for damages caused by its employees' negligence.
"I think he's going to sue," Kennedy said. "I mean, I would."
That prospect adds another layer of cost and liability to an episode already defined by a botched renovation, a no-bid contract, dropped criminal charges, and a public falling-out between the president and one of his most visible appointees. The administration has faced legal setbacks in federal court on other fronts as well, though Trump has also notched wins, including instances where Biden-appointed judges sided with his administration on enforcement matters.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who has been outspoken in defending the president's suggestion that vandalism, not poor workmanship, caused the Reflecting Pool damage, was also spotted at the White House on Monday evening alongside Pirro. Neither made public statements.
Pirro's silence is notable. She has not responded to Trump's social media broadside or his Oval Office remarks. Whether she retains the president's confidence going forward remains an open question. Trump has a well-documented pattern of holding officials accountable when he believes they have failed him, and his language on Monday left little room for interpretation.
Several questions remain unanswered. What specific actions did the judge take against Pirro and her office that Trump described as "vicious"? Will the administration rebid the repair contract or continue with Atlantic Industrial Coatings? And will Hearn, a former Olympian dragged into a criminal case over what he described as briefly touching a peeling pool coating, pursue legal action against the federal government?
For now, the Reflecting Pool sits empty, drained for yet another round of repairs on a project that has already cost taxpayers $14.7 million. Four people had their lives disrupted by criminal charges that the government's own prosecutor ultimately concluded could not be sustained. And a president who prizes loyalty above almost everything else has made clear, in the most public way possible, that one of his closest allies fell short.
When the government spends $14.7 million on a no-bid contract, the work falls apart, innocent people get charged, and nobody can explain who picked the contractor, the taxpayer deserves better than silence and finger-pointing.
