In a lengthy Truth Social post, President Trump admitted that some damage to the Reflecting Pool was caused by "contractor error" and a rush to get the job done by July 4th. However, the president said that the error was in a small area of the pool and doubled down on vandalism claims against former Olympian David Hearn, despite the Justice Department moving to dismiss the case against Hearn, citing evidence that the damage was caused by a botched installation.
President Trump now admits that rushing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovation caused a "contractor error", but he is not backing down from his claim that former Olympic canoeist David Hearn vandalized the pool in broad daylight. Trump posted on Truth Social Sunday night, acknowledging for the first time that the $16 million renovation he […] The post Trump concedes contractor error in Reflecting Pool renovation but insists vandalism still occurred appeared first on American Almanac .
President Trump now admits that rushing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovation caused a "contractor error", but he is not backing down from his claim that former Olympic canoeist David Hearn vandalized the pool in broad daylight. Trump posted on Truth Social Sunday night, acknowledging for the first time that the $16 million renovation he ordered was partly botched by the firm hired to repaint and waterproof the pool's concrete floor ahead of Independence Day 2026. The admission came days after his own Justice Department moved to dismiss felony property destruction charges against Hearn, a 67-year-old three-time Olympian from Bethesda, Maryland, after prosecutors concluded the damage resulted from a flawed installation, not…Open
President Trump publicly rebuked his own U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., Jeanine Pirro, after she moved to dismiss a felony vandalism charge against former Olympian David Hearn, a case the government now admits never should have been brought. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday that Pirro "choked" under pressure from a judge […] The post Trump rips Pirro for dropping Reflecting Pool vandalism case against Olympian David Hearn appeared first on American Almanac .
President Trump publicly rebuked his own U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., Jeanine Pirro, after she moved to dismiss a felony vandalism charge against former Olympian David Hearn, a case the government now admits never should have been brought. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday that Pirro "choked" under pressure from a judge and abandoned a prosecution he still believes was justified. Pirro's office, meanwhile, pointed the finger at the Department of Interior for withholding documents that showed the real culprit behind damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool: a contractor that botched a rushed renovation job ahead of Independence Day. The result is a collision between a president who wanted accountability for…Open
The department said information provided since the indictment of former Olympic canoeist David Hearn revealed the damage was the result of a “flawed installation by the contractor."
