Topline
President Donald Trump on Sunday night accused vandals of damaging a section of lawn in the National Mall in Washington, D.C.—an area that was used to host his July 4 rally—echoing claims he made about the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool despite his administration’s failure to produce any evidence of such vandalism in court.
US President Donald Trump delivers remarks at the Nassau County Police Academy Center for Training and Intelligence in Garden City, New York.
Key Facts
In his post on Truth Social, the president shared a photo of a large discolored patch of grass in the National Mall next to the World War II memorial.
Trump wrote “Look what VANDALS did to the grass,” without offering any evidence, and reiterated his earlier claims about the Reflecting Pool being vandalized as well.
The post also referenced an arrest made last week in connection to an act of vandalism at the World War II Memorial where someone painted the words “Clean hands dirty $.”
The president ended his post noting that anyone who thinks “the Reflecting Pool wasn’t vandalized should go back to Law School,” a remark that echoes his anger at U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s decision to drop charges in the pool vandalism case.
news peg
The Associated Press noted the area of lawn that appears in the photo Trump shared is same location where a large stage had been built and crowds had gathered for Trump’s July 4 rally as part of America’s 250th anniversary celebrations. The AP report noted a bandstand and seating areas were present in the location where Trump claims the vandalism took place. The agency’s photos of the event structures being dismantled after Independence Day also show discolored and damaged patches of grass underneath.
Workers dismantle structures from Salute to America, an Independence Day event honoring the nation’s 250th anniversary, as seen from the Washington Monument.
key background
Late last month, the Justice Department dropped its criminal case against ex-Olympian and Maryland resident David Hearn, after federal prosecutors accused him of “forcefully and violently” ripping parts of the Reflecting Pool’s renovated floors. The case was filed after Trump reacted to criticism of his multimillion dollar renovation of the pool, which included adding a blue lining. When chunks of blue material were seen peeling off the pool floor, Trump claimed this was the result of vandalism. The U.S. Attorney’s office for the District of Columbia, however, dropped the charges after noting evidence made available to it by the Department of the Interior showed the damage was the result of a “rushed and flawed installation” process involving the pool’s lining. Charges against three other defendants were also dropped.
What Was Trump’s Response To The Dropping Of Charges?
Even as the cases were dropped, Trump doubled down on his vandalism claims and wrote on Truth Social: “I disagree 100% with Jeanine Pirro…, on the Reflecting Pool. I don’t know what she was thinking? To me, it was a pure case of VANDALISM.” A few days later, Trump criticized Pirro once again while speaking to reporters at the White House. He said the former Fox News host “choked” and “folded like an umbrella,” adding he was “really disappointed” with her decision to drop the case against Hearn. Trump has not yet commented on the remaining cases being dismissed.
tangent
Last week, Pirro announced a woman named Melissa Farris had been arrested over the World War II Memorial vandalism incident and faces two felony charges. Aside from allegedly spray-painting the words “Clean hands dirty $,” the defendant allegedly tossed bubbling soap into the fountain at the memorial. On her Facebook page last week, a woman named Melissa Lovewell shared a video of herself using spray paint at the monument and said, “I will wait here to be arrested for spraying our veterans’ fountain.”