It was a project President Donald Trump touted when it first started — and now it’s reportedly put Washington’s top prosecutor’s job in question.
President Donald Trump said earlier this week he hasn’t decided whether Jeanine Pirro will remain the United States attorney for the District of Columbia after she moved to dismiss a felony charge against an Olympian formerly accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
These vandalism allegations came when problems surfaced following the multi-million dollar renovation of the pool. While Trump has since dug in his heels on his claims of vandalism, critics say he’s trying to find a scapegoat for issues stemming from a flawed installation.
On Sunday, Trump said “security cameras have been, and are being, installed” at the Reflecting Pool.
These are the events that led up to this.
Tuesday, March 31
Trump, on Truth Social says he and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum are working to fix the pool, which he called “absolutely filthy.”
Friday, April 3
Atlantic Industrial Coatings is hired by the Department of the Interior to complete the pool repairs. This decision sparks backlash after reports revealed Atlantic was given a no-bid contract.
Thursday, April 23
Trump talks about plans for the Reflecting Pool renovations at a White House event, saying he took them on after a friend visiting from Germany called it “dirty.”
“The water is disgusting looking. It’s not representative of the country,” Trump said, according to NBC News.
At the time, Trump said repairs would cost $1.5 million to $2 million and only take a week. Ultimately, though, they ended up with a price tag of $16 million — and renovations took months.
Monday, May 11
The Cultural Landscape Foundation filed a lawsuit against the Interior Department, which said applying Trump’s chosen blue paint to the Reflecting Pool’s basin is a violation of federal law.
“The Reflecting Pool should not be viewed in isolation; it is part of the larger ensemble of designed landscapes that comprise the National Mall. The design intent, to create a reflective surface that is subordinate, is fundamental to the solemn and hallowed visual and spatial connection between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial,” Charles A. Birnbaum, TCLF’s President and CEO, said in a statement. “A blue-tinted basin is more appropriate to a resort or theme park.”
Saturday, June 6
President Donald Trump said all work on the Reflection Pool project is complete, and talked about the redesigned basin’s “Dark Blue surface” that will be filled with “CLEAN, BEAUTIFUL WATER.”
Immediately after, a widespread algae bloom showed up.
Tuesday, June 16
National Park Service crews vaccummed algae from the pool and added hydrogen peroxide to the water.
Thursday, June 18
Another issue with the Reflecting Pool pops up — visitors say they saw peeling in the new protective coating that was applied to the bottom of the pool.
Pictures taken by Getty Images and reported in the media revealed a tear in the sealant and parts of the paint floating to the surface.
Friday, June 19
David Hearn, a three-time Olympian in the canoe slalom, is arrested for vandalizing the Reflecting Pool.
In an interview with The Washington Post, he denies doing so, saying he went to see the pool during a bike ride.
When Hearn saw a piece of the liner partially detached from the bottom of the pool, he said, he reached down to see what it felt like.
“I was able to grab the end of that flapping piece, the already peeling piece,” he said to the Washington Post. “It was still attached to the bottom. I didn’t remove anything.”
“I didn’t destroy or break or peel anything,” Hearn said. “By the time I realized what was going on, I was being put in handcuffs.”
He later pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of destruction of property.
Saturday, June 20
Noting various problems surrounding the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, President Donald Trump said it may now have to be drained for “necessary repairs.”
He blamed vandals on Truth Social. He accuses them of taking a “knife or blade,” and cutting a 250-foot long gash into the facade.
“What these terrible Vandals have done is a true affront to both Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and should be dealt with accordingly,” he said.
Friday, July 31
The Department of Justice moved to dismiss the case against Hearn. In a court filing obtained by The Hill, Pirro said the damage seen at the pool was not vandalism.
Instead, she said it was the result of a “botched installation.”
Pirro said in the filing the Department of the Interior provided additional documents to her office after Hearn’s arrest that “significantly undermine the evidentiary basis for the indictment initially supplied by the DOI and U.S. Park Police.”
These documents specifically show that work on installing the lining “almost immediately fell behind,” Pirro wrote, because of a combination of “very rainy and windy weather, repeated failures of testing on the sealing of the expansion joints, and delays in obtaining sealing product at the worksite.”
This “flawed installation” was because of the “rush” to complete the project before the America 250 celebrations, Pirro wrote.
“The rush to complete the project led to hasty and botched work that was not remediated before the project was finished and the fencing removed,” Pirro said.
Trump responded the next day saying he disagreed “100%” with Pirro about the Reflecting Pool.
“There may have been some contractor difficulty, but the major damage was caused by VANDALS!” he wrote on Truth Social.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the same on X.
Since Hearn’s case was dropped, prosecutors have also moved to drop three other alleged vandalism cases.
Thursday, Aug. 6
A federal judge dismissed the criminal case against Hearn. According to Courthouse News, he did not say whether it would be dismissed with or without prejudice. The judge ordered the government to file a briefing on the issue by Aug. 18.
Hearn’s lawyers said in a statement that the case “never should’ve been brought in the first place.”
“The Department of Justice’s decision to seek an indictment was a miscarriage of justice,” they said.
“The court has ordered briefing on dismissal with prejudice — that is, to prevent the government’s ability to bring the case again,” Hearn’s attorneys said. “We intend to vigorously advocate for that. All other legal options also remain on the table.”
Monday, Aug. 4
Trump said he’s “really disappointed with Jeanine Pirro.”
“She folded like an umbrella. And people get away with things, and it’s a disgrace,” he said.
Still, he admits there were issues with the contractor.
“I’m not saying I was 100% thrilled with the contractor,” Trump told reporters. “We wanted to get it open for July 4th and we got it done. But in addition, there was vandalism.”
Saturday, Aug. 8
On Truth Social, Trump posted pictures of what he said is vandalism at the Reflecting Pool.
He later posted a snippet of the DOJ’s motion to dimiss the case against Hearn that talked about a National Park Service employee saying he saw Hearn “tugging” at Reflecting Pool’s coating.
“There was substantial other damage to the Reflecting Pool, also but, unfortunately, there is no video or proof, other than the damage, itself,” Trump said.
He added that “we are working on the Pool, and it will reopen shortly.”
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