Trump denounces Justice Department decision to drop Reflecting Pool charges

President Donald Trump publicly disagreed with his own Department of Justice after it dropped charges against a former Olympic athlete for alleged vandalism of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Trump stated he disagreed "100 percent" with the decision, maintaining that vandalism, not installation problems, caused the major damage.

US Attorney Jeanine Pirro had dismissed the charges against 67-year-old canoeist David Hearn, citing that the damage was the result of "a botched installation and not vandalism." This contradicted her previous statements and claims made after Hearn's arrest in June.

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To me, it was a pure case of VANDALISM. There may have been some contractor difficulty, but the major damage was caused by VANDALS!

Trump took to his Truth Social platform to express his opposition, sharing a video of someone interacting with the pool and a photo of numbers etched into the nearby National Mall lawn. The numbers "86 47" have been interpreted as a political message against the 47th president.

The Reflecting Pool has become a political flashpoint. Trump's administration undertook controversial renovation projects in Washington, D.C., including resurfacing the pool. The project drew scrutiny, especially after a company previously used by Trump in a private capacity was awarded the multimillion-dollar contract without competitive bidding. Problems emerged shortly after completion, with the pool's lining peeling and algae blooming, which Trump initially blamed on "vandals."

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a botched installation and not vandalism