US President Donald Trump has lashed out after longtime ally Jeanine Pirro moved to drop charges against a former Olympian who had been accused of vandalising the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, DC.
David Hearn, a former US Olympics Team canoeist, had been charged with vandalising the pool after a tear in the lining was discovered.
Trump has lashed out after vandalism charges were dropped over damage at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. AP Photo/Rahmat Gul
He denied the charges, saying he had only stopped to touch the water.
Pirro, the US Attorney for the District of Columbia, on Saturday moved in court for the charges to be dropped in a prosecutorial retreat after a government report found the apparent damage to the pool was likely due to botched installation work.
“I disagree 100% with Jeanine Pirro, the US Attorney for the District of Columbia, on the Reflecting Pool. I don’t know what she was thinking?” Trump posted on Truth Social overnight.
“To me, it was a pure case of VANDALISM, that included the grass, which had a big 86 47 emblazoned in giant letters on it, and other elements of the surrounding area.
“There may have been some contractor difficulty, but the major damage was caused by VANDALS!”
The report also found the hurried deadlines for the installation were a factor.
“Damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in June 2026 was the result of flawed installation by the contractor, Atlantic Industrial Coating,” Pirro, a Trump appointee and longtime loyalist, said in her motion, which asked a judge to formally dismiss the case.
Former US Olympic canoe racer David Hearn was charged with damaging the monument. AP Photo/KOJI SASAHARA
“It was not until after these documents were produced that USAO-DC (US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia) first became aware of information showing that the damage was the result of a botched installation and not vandalism as initially represented by DOI (Department of the Interior).”
Trump had pledged to clean up the pool and make it gleam “American flag blue” ahead of the US’s 250th birthday celebrations in July.
Trump disagreed with the attorney’s decision. AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin
Atlantic Industrial Coatings was awarded a US$14.7 million ($20.95 million) no-bid contract to carry out the work.
The company had previously worked on one of Trump’s golf courses.
As well as the lining damage, photos and videos posted to social media showed a proliferation of algae on the water following the initial renovation.
Pirro’s motion acknowledged that the National Parks Service had been aware the new pool lining had been peeling for a week before Hearn’s arrest.
The pool, now currently drained, became a centrepiece of Trump’s second-term ambition to “beautify” Washington DC’s public monuments.
It is one of Washington DC’s most famed landmarks and was the site of Martin Luther King Jr’s “I have a dream” speech in 1963.