Trump: Jeanine Pirro 'choked' by dropping reflecting pool charges

The DOJ said Friday that evidence of a rushed and flawed repair job would make it difficult for it to prove that vandals were behind damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

President Donald Trump laid into U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro on Monday afternoon, saying she "choked" under pressure when her office cited flawed craftsmanship as the cause of damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and dropped vandalism charges.

"Instead of going after the people that did it, the judge went after her and went after her department, and I guess she choked," Trump said to reporters gathered in the Oval Office. "I don't know what the hell happened."

Monday was not the first time Trump criticized Pirro's handling of the case. The filing immediately generated tension between Trump, who continued to insist that vandals cut up the pool lining in a Saturday Truth Social post blasting his U.S. attorney for D.C., and Pirro, his longtime ally and a former Fox News host.

In a remarkable filing moving to drop the charges against a man accused of vandalizing the pool, the Attorney's Office said it would not have pursued a grand jury indictment had it been aware of documented issues with the integrity of the pool's blue lining. Pirro, in the filing, blamed the Interior Department for failing to share that documentation before her office sought an indictment — an accusation disputed by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.

"The evidence is clear, vandals have repeatedly caused damage to the Reflecting Pool. Some of these acts were even caught on camera," he wrote on X on Saturday. "We also provided the U.S. Attorney's office expert and eyewitness testimony to the damage done by vandals and provided every piece of evidence they asked for in the requested time line detailing each area of damage at the pool."

Pirro's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Trump's remarks Monday.

The botched renovation to the iconic memorial has faced controversy at nearly every juncture. The project ran millions of dollars over budget after being awarded through a no-bid contract to a company with no previous experience with federal work. And shortly after opening, algae — a longtime nuisance on the pool surface — returned while parts of the lining began to appear floating inside the pool.

The president, though he continued to insist Monday that vandals were responsible for the damage, appeared to recognize some of the rushed work described in Pirro's filing. He remarked to reporters, "I'm not saying I was one hundred percent thrilled with the contractor."

"We wanted to get it open for July 4th and we got it done," Trump added. "But in addition, there was vandalism."

The Attorney's Office filing described how a National Park Services engineer became aware of peeling on the pool bottom in mid-June, which was attributed to overspraying of liner material along its perimeter. And a subsequent inspection in July revealed damage throughout the pool, rather than solely at the perimeter where people would have been able to reach in, according to the filing.

Despite his vocal frustration, Trump did not indicate that he would reconsider Pirro's appointment to be one of the nation's top federal prosecutors and even sparred with a reporter who asked about her future in his administration.

"You're fake news," Trump retorted. "Don't ever talk again."