Donald Trump is considering replacing one of his top MAGA prosecutors, accusing her of “choking” under pressure when she refused to back his claims that vandals ruined the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
In an extraordinary tirade on Monday, the furious president also declared that his handpicked U.S Attorney Jeanine Pirro folded “like an umbrella” after she moved to throw out a criminal case against former Olympian David Hearn—the man the administration accused of destroying the pool.
Prosecutors now say the damage to the iconic landmark wasn’t caused by vandals at all, but rather by a botched job from Trump’s own contractor, who rushed to finish before the president’s America 250 celebrations.
But in an Oval Office meltdown lasting several minutes, the president turned on Pirro while doubling down on his wild claim that radical vandals tore up the surface of the Reflecting Pool with a box cutter or a knife.
As sources suggested Trump was considering removing Pirro, she was seen entering the White House on Monday afternoon and later exited hauling two large boxes. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, whose department oversees the Reflecting Pool and disputes her version of events, was also spotted.
The Daily Beast has reached out to both, as well as the White House, but they have yet to respond about the meeting.
“I was disappointed with Jeanine Pirro,” Trump fumed earlier. “Really disappointed with Jeanine Pirro. She folded like an umbrella.”
In a rare concession, the president acknowledged that “we weren’t necessarily thrilled with the contractor”—a Virginia-based firm that had previously done work on a pool at one of Trump’s golf courses.
But he added that the judge overseeing the case “was extremely unfriendly to Jeanine, and frankly, I think she choked because the judge was really vicious.
“Instead of going after the people that did it, the judge went after her and went after her department, and I guess she choked. I don’t know what the hell happened,” he said.
Asked if he was planning to remove her, the 80-year-old president hit out at the MS NOW reporter who asked the question and then moved on without answering.
Trump’s rebuke is significant given the longstanding friendship between Trump and the former Fox News co-host, who he nominated as the top prosecutor for the District of Columbia after his original pick, Ed Martin, couldn’t get enough support to be confirmed.
But the evidence presented by the administration was so flimsy that even Pirro, a MAGA loyalist who has unsuccessfully prosecuted other cases in line with Trump’s agenda, could not go through with it.
One of those failed cases involved charges against a man who threw a Subway sandwich at a federal officer, in protest against the surge of National Guard troops deployed to Washington by Trump.
The stunning Reflecting Pool reversal took place on Friday night, when Pirro’s office announced it would move to throw out the charges.
It was also revealed that her office did not even get key evidence from the Trump administration until after the indictment, despite repeatedly asking the Interior Department for documents. Once those records finally arrived, they undercut the entire case.
The Reflecting Pool was meant to be finished in time for Trump’s America 250th celebrations on July 4. But instead of creating a clean pool with an “American flag blue” surface, the landmark became an algae-infested mess, and in turn, a national embarrassment.
To this day it remains fenced and blocked off to visitors as repairs continue, although Trump said on Monday it should be completed within about two weeks.
Additional CCTV security cameras have been installed across the mall and National Guards—who will now remain deployed in Washington through Inauguration Day 2029—continue to patrol the area in groups.
The issue is contentious because the contractor Trump hired to fix the pool was awarded the job without a competitive tender process, and the cost has now ballooned from about $1.5 million to more than $15 million.
Meanwhile, Hearn, who was personally attacked by Trump and branded as a radical vandal, is now considering his legal options.
In a statement, his counsel Norm Eisen of Democracy Defenders Fund, Mary Dohrmann of Washington Litigation Group and Steve Levin of Steptoe LLP told the Daily Beast: “Trump is mad at Pirro because she finally admitted what we made clear in our legal filings all along: Trump’s botched renovation was responsible for the damage—not Davey Hearn.
“However her claim that she and her office were previously duped by Interior is nonsense. Starting immediately after the arraignment, our motions repeatedly proved that the administration was to blame for the Reflecting Pool failures, not Davey. This is far from over, as we consider all legal remedies.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House to ask about the meeting with Pirro, and whether the president still has confidence in his handpicked U.S. Attorney.
