The fallout from the Reflecting Pool. How all of Trump’s promises and attacks crumbled within a few weeks

In early May, standing in the Reflecting Pool at the Lincoln Memorial, Donald Trump promised to fix the leaks and other problems that had long plagued one of the capital’s most recognisable monuments. “It will last, I’d say, 50 years,” he said. “It’ll last, it’ll last a long time.” Trump had promised to complete the work in time for the 4 July celebrations on the National Mall. He and his aides had presented the project – launched through a multi-million contract awarded without a tender and without the usual review process – as proof of just how quickly the property magnate could transform Washington. The changes, however, lasted only a few days. The pool’s lining began to flake off visibly: pieces of the new “American flag blue” lining were scattered across the surface, whilst algae blooms clouded the water. Since then, the administration’s line of defence – blaming the damage on ‘vandals’ – has turned into a political headache, raising questions about what senior officials knew whilst the government was prosecuting four people, including former US Olympian David Hearn.

The President is furious with one of his most ardent supporters, Jeanine Pirro, the federal prosecutor for the capital, for having dropped the vandalism charges against the four individuals in recent days. In a document filed with the court on Friday, prosecutors attributed the damage to faulty installation work, arguing that the Home Office had failed to share crucial information in a timely manner. Trump attacked Pirro on social media and delivered a “very sharp” message to her over the phone on Saturday, according to a White House official; on Monday, from the Oval Office, he reiterated that she had “collapsed like an umbrella”. The Reflecting Pool project, intended as a showcase for Trump’s ability to get things done quickly, has instead become a stumbling block in his second term – just as the administration is pressing ahead with far more ambitious projects for Washington’s skyline, such as the new White House ballroom and a 76-metre-high triumphal arch.

The swimming pool was drained again on 10 July for further repairs. Government documents “strongly suggest that a rushed and botched installation by AIC, the main contractor” caused the visible damage to the new lining, Pirro and one of his deputies wrote on Friday. Pirro accused the Home Office of withholding relevant documents that would have caused the investigation to fail. The swimming pool issues had already sparked Trump’s outbursts within the White House; the president also became angry because Pirro had not given the Oval Office prior notice of the decision to drop the charges, according to an official. The two discussed the matter over the phone on Saturday, a conversation first reported by CNN. Trump publicly reiterated that he “100 per cent” disagreed with Pirro’s decision, insisting that the vandals were to blame. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum also weighed in, claiming that the vandals had “repeatedly” damaged the site, that the acts had been captured on CCTV and that his agency had cooperated fully with the Department of Justice’s lawyers.

For weeks, however, outside observers had been refuting the theory of widespread vandalism. An analysis by the Washington Post based on satellite imagery, photos and videos from June concluded that the peeling paint was most likely due to application errors – a conclusion also shared by the waterproofing experts consulted. The Administration has always publicly contested this theory, but on Monday Trump admitted to some frustration with the contractors: “I’m not saying I was 100 per cent thrilled with the contractor, but the contractor was working quickly,” he said in the Oval Office, highlighting the tight deadline imposed on the workers. His harshest words, however, were reserved for Pirro: “I suppose he’s lost his mind. I don’t know what on earth happened.”

Pirro, a former Fox News presenter, had been a staunch defender of the President before joining his administration and, in her current role, had pursued various charges against Trump’s alleged political enemies, whilst also suffering a few setbacks in court. The 20-page document in which prosecutors sought to have the Hearn case dismissed proved surprising not only because it contradicted what Trump and Pirro had stated publicly, but also because it set out in detail the Home Office documents highlighting the installation issues, explaining how the prosecutors had come to believe they had been misled. Pirro reviewed and approved the motion after speaking with Michael Spence, head of the unit handling High Court cases at the prosecutor’s office, according to people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Norm Eisen, Hearn’s lawyer, rejects the claim that the Department of Justice was unaware of the evidence in his client’s favour, citing photographs and public reports that point to contractor error as the most likely cause. “The idea that Pirro and her office were in any way misled by the Home Office is not credible,” he said.

This report is based on interviews with officials from the Department of Justice, the Home Office and the White House, as well as on public statements and documents released by the Administration during the legal battles over the Reflecting Pool. Some sources spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to comment publicly. Trump had decided to renovate the century-old pool at the start of the year, after some friends had criticised its appearance and smell. “I was getting complaints from people saying it wasn’t up to scratch,” he told journalists. “I rang Doug (Burgum) and he agreed.” The last major refurbishment of the Reflecting Pool, initiated under the Obama administration, had taken several years and cost $34 million. Trump was convinced he could carry it out much more quickly and at a far lower cost, personally overseeing the project thanks to the now close relationship between the White House and National Park Service staff. Having demolished the East Wing to build an 8,000-square-metre ballroom and begun planning a triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery, the Reflecting Pool seemed, by comparison, a straightforward undertaking.

The Administration had also eliminated the hierarchical levels between Park Service field staff and senior officials at the Home Office and the White House. Many experienced staff had left following the cuts imposed last year by the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), which had reduced the agency’s workforce by around a quarter, leaving technical decisions – including those relating to historical conservation – to junior officials and political appointees with little specific experience, whilst qualified staff were sidelined. By March, the Park Service was already fast-tracking the project at the White House’s behest. The application of a new coloured epoxy resin did not go through the normally required reviews because, as one official wrote in a document dated 30 March, “there is no other option” if the imposed deadline is to be met. Trump unveiled the project on 23 April in the Oval Office, releasing a promotional video shortly afterwards and describing it as a “feasibility study”: “It will be much more beautiful than it was in 1922, when they built it,” he said, promising a cost of less than $2 million and less than two weeks’ work instead of years and hundreds of millions. That cost would later rise considerably. Almost immediately, historic conservation experts and some former officials warned that the project was being rushed. Charles A. Birnbaum, head of the Cultural Landscape Foundation, expressed surprise that “something so important could be altered without testing” the new materials, noting that the logic was the same as that applied to other Trump construction sites: “Do the work first, ask the questions later”. His organisation also filed a lawsuit to halt the project, but a judge dismissed the application for an injunction. Work began on 5 May, with contractors clearing the site and starting to spray a special protective coating, Rhino 406, onto part of the pool. The following day, rain forced the first suspension of work. Behind the scenes, the warning signs were not long in coming: “It seems that the AIC is significantly behind schedule,” wrote an employee tasked with monitoring the progress of the works in an email shared with the Home Office on 7 May, according to the Department of Justice. Further delays followed: the rain continued to disrupt the work and, on 18 May, the contractors ran out of Rhino 406, forcing a further pause whilst awaiting new supplies.

The work was largely completed by 7 June, when the pool began to be refilled. The final inspection took place on 9 June, ahead of the official opening a month later, at a cost of over $12 million more than originally promised. The refurbished pool initially received bipartisan praise, and Trump posted a flurry of photos on social media, juxtaposing images of the old, dirty pool – which he claimed was Joe Biden’s legacy – with those of the new, immaculate one. “Everyone is looking at that reflective pool; they can’t believe it’s reflective,” he said the following day. “When I’m there, it’ll be perfect.” The following day, however, a Park Service engineer had already concluded that the new lining had begun to peel away, attributing the fault to a contractor’s error, according to documents made public on Friday. Soon, passers-by also noticed the peeling: Hearn told the Washington Post that on 19 June, upon seeing a piece of the coating that had already partially come away, he reached into the water to touch it. He was arrested almost immediately by Park Police officers and charged with vandalism. Further arrests followed. The charges provided administration officials with cover for the theory of deliberate damage. None of those arrested, however, were charged with the most serious offence publicly attributed to them by Trump – the use of blades or chemicals. “They took some sort of knife or blade and cut a 250-foot gash in the magnificent façade of what took so much work, expertise and money to build. They also poured corrosive chemicals into the pool,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on 20 June, increasing the length of the gash in subsequent posts first to 300 and then to 350 feet. Frank Lands, deputy director of the Park Service, told a federal judge, in a separate case on 24 June, that the foam sealant had been “cut with a sharp knife or razor”. Lands, a former Army garrison deputy commander who joined the Park Service in 2021, has become a central figure in the implementation of Trump’s policies in Washington and declined to comment to the Washington Post.

Pirro had initially described the alleged vandalism as an attack on the shared heritage of the American people. On 1 July, she went to the swimming pool in person to inspect the damage and, the following day, when a grand jury indicted Hearn for destruction of property – the only vandalism charge actually pursued – she held a press conference and gave an interview to Fox News in which she described him as pulling “forcefully and violently” at the cladding with both hands, ignoring a Park Service employee who ordered him to stop. “I didn’t make the charges too severe,” she told journalists at the time, adding that “the damage was extensive”. In the US Attorney’s Office, however, frustration was mounting towards the Home Office, which had still not provided the requested information on the damage. Prosecutors had only a few “essential” police reports drawn up by the officers who had arrested Hearn and three other defendants on minor offences. When, on 17 July, Hearn’s defence team inspected the site, Pirro visited it again: with the swimming pool drained, the prosecutors were able to observe the damage more clearly; according to documents submitted to the court, the damage affected not only the edges but also the centre of the pool – areas that would have been very difficult for any vandals to reach.

Pirro stated that his office had immediately requested documentation on the installation process from the Home Office. “These documents indicated a rushed and flawed process, with repeated failures of the cladding during installation and extensive detachment across the entire Reflecting Pool area” reads the document submitted by his office, which included emails and reports on installation defects, setbacks caused by rain, blistering and flaking – all documented in writing even before the charges were formally brought. “Had (the Home Office) provided the information they clearly possessed, the government would not have sought an indictment,” the document further states. Prosecutors have also dropped the charges against the other three defendants charged with minor offences; one of them, Justin Carreno, lost his job as a government contractor and suffered reputational damage, according to his lawyer David Benowitz, who commented: “The charge should never have been brought.” The Department of Justice could, in theory, attempt to refile the charges, but this seems unlikely in light of the conclusions contained in the dismissal document itself. Trump, meanwhile, appears to be continuing his own investigation. On Saturday, he shared a security video on Truth Social showing several people with their hands in the pool: “See for yourselves the vandalism that took place at the Reflecting Pool,” he wrote. “The material is being cut with a knife or a craft knife, in plain sight!” The video shows three people reaching into the water along the northern edge of the pool, but it is unclear whether anyone is actually holding a blade. The footage appears to be a longer version of a clip previously released by the Parks Police on 24 June to seek help in identifying a person captured on camera – filmed, according to the police, on 19 June at 15:36, about an hour before Hearn was stopped.

The incident has sparked outrage amongst Democrats in Congress, who have launched an inquiry into the project, arguing that the passers-by should never have been arrested – a stance that has also left several Republicans perplexed. “It’s practically the textbook definition of kakistocracy,” said Jared Huffman, a Democratic MP from California. “Pirro is caught between a rock and a hard place: if she tells the truth, she’ll be sacked; if she carries on lying, she risks being struck off the register.” Among the Republicans taken aback by the episode was Louisiana’s Republican Senator John Kennedy, who commented on Sunday’s NBC programme ‘Meet the Press’: “The whole affair is a pile-up. I don’t understand why she brought the case without conducting a thorough investigation. She claims she relied on the Home Affairs Department. But she was right to withdraw it.”

The swimming pool will remain closed until 10 August for further works, according to statements made by the local authority in the documents submitted to the court.