Trump Reveals Pirro’s Future After Reflecting Pool Case Dropped

President Donald Trump said he does not intend to remove U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, despite sharply criticizing her office’s decision to dismiss charges against a man accused of damaging the newly renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Reports circulated last week that Trump was furious with Pirro after prosecutors abandoned the case against former Olympic paddler David Hearn. The controversy prompted speculation that the president could dismiss the former Fox News host, New York prosecutor, and judge from her federal position.

Trump ended that speculation during a Thursday telephone interview with NBC News, although he made clear that he strongly disagreed with Pirro’s handling of the case.

The president said Pirro “made a big mistake” by seeking to dismiss the charges against Hearn, who had faced the possibility of up to 10 years in prison after allegedly tearing up part of the Reflecting Pool’s detached liner.

“She said there was no vandalism. There was tremendous vandalism,” Trump said.

“So, she made a terrible mistake. I don’t understand why she did such a stupid thing,” the president added.

When asked directly whether he intended to fire Pirro, Trump indicated that one disputed decision would not cost her the position.

“I think she made a terrible decision. That doesn’t mean change,” Trump said.

The president continues to insist that the century-old Reflecting Pool was vandalized. Pirro’s office, however, told the court that the damage resulted from defective installation rather than deliberate criminal conduct.

Federal prosecutors said the damaged liner had been installed by a contractor hired during the renovation project. After reviewing the evidence, the office concluded that the damage “was the result of a botched installation and not vandalism.”

The dismissal motion attributed the problem to “contractor error.”

Prosecutors also said it would be “difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism, let alone to establish that fact beyond a reasonable doubt.”

That conclusion represented a dramatic reversal from Pirro’s earlier public statements about Hearn’s alleged conduct.

Pirro initially accused him of having “woefully destroyed property” through a “deliberate act.” She claimed that Hearn sought to damage the national monument by “forcefully and violently” pulling its lining.

Pirro later said the Department of the Interior had supplied her office with “less the fulsome information” about the incident. That alleged lack of complete information reportedly contributed to a tense confrontation at the White House last week.

The Reflecting Pool’s recent refurbishment included the installation of a dark-blue liner and an advanced nanobubbler system designed to combat persistent algae growth.

Algae reportedly returned shortly after the work was completed. Sections of the newly installed protective sealant also began separating and floating to the surface, raising broader questions about the quality of the renovation.

Trump originally said the refurbishment of the 2,030-foot pool could be finished rapidly for approximately $1.5 million ahead of the Fourth of July celebrations.

Federal spending records reportedly show that the project’s cost has since reached nearly $14.7 million. Payments were made to Atlantic Industrial Coatings LLC, a Virginia-based company.

Hearn’s attorneys are now asking the court to dismiss the prosecution with prejudice, which would permanently prevent the government from filing the same charges again.

They argue that the government’s own findings establish that faulty installation—not vandalism—caused the damage. The defense has also cited Trump’s continuing public claims that Hearn committed vandalism despite the conclusions submitted by federal prosecutors.

The episode presents a complicated dispute for the administration. Trump remains convinced that deliberate vandalism occurred, while Pirro’s office has formally represented to the court that the evidence cannot establish that allegation beyond a reasonable doubt.

Pirro will remain Washington’s top federal prosecutor for now. But Trump’s unusually blunt criticism leaves little doubt that he considers her handling of the case a serious failure—even if it was not serious enough to cost her the job.