
A reporter asked President Trump on Tuesday whether U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro still has a job. Trump paused. "I haven't made a determination," he said, before boarding Air Force One in Los Angeles.
That's the sound of a $14-million-plus renovation project turning into a personnel crisis.
Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia and a longtime Trump ally from her Fox News days, is in hot water after her office moved to dismiss felony vandalism charges against David "Davey" Hearn, a three-time Olympic canoeist arrested in late June at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The pool — recoated in "American flag blue" by contractor Atlantic Industrial Coatings as part of a high-profile renovation — had sustained visible damage. Pirro's office initially secured a grand jury indictment against Hearn on July 2.
Then came the reversal. In a 20-page court filing, Pirro's office cited newly discovered evidence pointing to "a rushed and flawed installation process" by the contractor. Her conclusion: "It is difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism, let alone to establish that fact beyond a reasonable doubt." Three additional misdemeanor defendants had their charges dropped shortly after.
Trump was not persuaded. He posted on Truth Social that he "disagree[s] 100% with Jeanine Pirro" and called it "a pure case of VANDALISM." He told reporters he was "very disappointed" and offered this assessment of what happened: "Frankly, I think she choked. Because the judge was extremely unfriendly to Jeanine... she choked."
He also described her as having "folded like an umbrella" — which, coming from Trump about a personal friend he appointed, lands somewhere between a performance review and a pink slip.
"So now I'm not saying I was 100% thrilled with the contractor," Trump conceded. But he added: "There was vandalism. Look for yourselves at the VANDALISM that took place at The Reflecting Pool. The material is being cut with a knife or a box cutter, for all to see!"
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum backed that position, stating, "The evidence is clear, vandals have repeatedly caused damage to the Reflecting Pool. Some of these acts were even caught on camera."
Hearn's attorney, Steven Levin, took a different tone entirely, calling the prosecution an "abuse of government power in arresting and charging a patriotic American." Hearn had pleaded not guilty to the felony destruction of property charge. Pirro's own filing noted that the National Park Service first raised concerns about the pool liner as early as June 11 — before Hearn's arrest — and that Pirro herself visited the pool on July 1, the day before the indictment.
The deeper issue here isn't whether Pirro was right or wrong on the merits. It's that Trump expects the people he puts in place to fight — especially when the fight is public, especially when the other side is already claiming a win. He told her to prosecute vandals. She came back and said it might have been the contractor. Whether that's legally defensible is one question. Whether it's survivable in Trump's orbit is another.
The Reflecting Pool sits empty and fenced off. Pirro reportedly met with Trump at the White House this week. The pool was supposed to reopen by July 4. It didn't. The charges are gone. The contractor is unnamed in Trump's criticism. And the only person publicly twisting is the one who followed the evidence instead of the directive.
That's a tough spot. But in this administration, the job description includes knowing which fights you can't afford to lose.


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