Trump Lashes Out At Jeanine Pirro After His Own DOJ Blames Shoddy Renovation For Reflecting Pool Damage

President Donald Trump lashed out at D.C. Attorney General Jeanine Pirro after the Justice Department dropped vandalism charges against Olympian David Hearn and instead blamed faulty renovation of the D.C. Reflecting Pool for its recent damage, saying he disagrees "100 percent" with her.

The renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has become a debacle, marked by recurring algae blooms, workers resorting to pouring hydrogen peroxide into the water to combat the problem, and a political blame game in which some Republicans have attempted to pin responsibility for the mess on Democrats.

The Trump administration hired a contractor to apply a blue waterproof coating to the pool's concrete floor, but the coating has since shown signs of deterioration, raising further questions about the emergency contracting process and the quality of the work performed.

Notably, after defending his administration's work on the Reflecting Pool, Trump said he "can't help it if somebody goes in with a knife and starts hacking it up." He claimed evidence would be presented "in court" and that reporters should simply reach out to the Parks Department to find out more.

After ABC News reported that Trump continued to blame vandals for the peeling paint and other problems at the Reflecting Pool, while noting that he "provided no evidence of vandalism himself," he threatened to file a lawsuit against the network.

But in a new court filing, the Justice Department conceded that Trump's overhaul of the Reflecting Pool was "hasty and botched" and moved to dismiss the criminal charges against Hearn, who had been accused of damaging the site.

The administration also charged three other individuals as part of its campaign to blame the Reflecting Pool's deterioration on vandalism. All three pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor offenses, and prosecutors have since dropped the charges against at least two of them, according to court records and one defense attorney.

Trump doubled down on this narrative in a post attacking Pirro:

"I disagree 100% with Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, on the Reflecting Pool. I don't know what she was thinking? 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!"

You can see his post below.

@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social

In remarks in the Oval Office, Trump said Pirro "folded like an umbrella":

“I was disappointed in Jeanine Pirro. Really disappointed with Jeanine Pirro. She folded like an umbrella.”

“I think she choked, because the judge was really vicious. 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.”

Many have criticized Trump's latest outburst over the project.

Like it or not, Pirro's office contradicts Trump entirely.

According to prosecutors, signs that large sections of the pool's blue liner were peeling away appeared more than a week before former Olympian David Hearn ever visited the site.

On June 11, a National Park Service engineer emailed Interior Department officials to report that the liner was already peeling around the pool's perimeter—the same area Hearn was later accused of damaging. Hearn was arrested on June 19 and indicted on July 2.

Prosecutors said it was only after Hearn's indictment that the Interior Department turned over records documenting significant problems with the contractor's work on the renovation. In an unusually sharp rebuke, Pirro's office accused the Interior Department of withholding critical information early in the investigation.

"The Interior Department provided less than fulsome information at the outset of this case," prosecutors wrote, adding that had the agency disclosed what it already knew, "the government would not have sought a grand jury indictment."