A rare public disagreement between President Donald Trump and U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro has raised fresh questions about her standing within the administration after the Justice Department moved to dismiss a high-profile criminal case involving damage to the Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C.
The dispute became public after Trump criticized Pirro during remarks in the Oval Office on Monday, expressing frustration over the Justice Department’s decision to seek dismissal of charges against 67-year-old David Hearn, a three-time Olympic canoeist who had been accused of damaging the Reflecting Pool.
“The judge was extremely unfriendly to Jeanine, and frankly, I think she choked because the judge was really vicious,” Trump told reporters.
“Instead of going after the people that did it, the judge went after her and went after her department,” he continued. “And I guess she choked. I don’t know what the hell happened.”
Later that evening, Pirro visited the White House, although officials did not publicly comment on the purpose of the meeting. The White House also declined to respond to questions about the visit.
Trump had already criticized Pirro over the weekend after federal prosecutors concluded that the damage to the Reflecting Pool appeared to stem from a rushed installation and construction problems rather than intentional vandalism. In court filings, prosecutors also faulted the contractor responsible for the project and said the Interior Department initially provided only limited information during the investigation.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum publicly disagreed with the Justice Department’s conclusions, and Trump echoed that criticism on Truth Social.
“I disagree 100% with Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, on the Reflecting Pool. I don’t know what she was thinking?” Trump wrote.
“There may have been some contractor difficulty, but the major damage was caused by VANDALS!”
According to CNN, citing two people familiar with the president’s thinking, Trump has discussed whether Pirro should remain in her position, although he declined to answer directly when asked about her future.
Pirro, a former judge and longtime Fox News host, was appointed interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia in May 2025 before later winning Senate confirmation. Throughout her tenure, she has closely aligned herself with the administration’s priorities on crime and public safety in the nation’s capital.
The Reflecting Pool case initially appeared to fit within that broader agenda.
Last month, a grand jury indicted Hearn on a felony charge of destruction of property after prosecutors alleged he had intentionally damaged a section of the pool’s protective liner. At the time, Pirro said her office possessed strong evidence, including eyewitness testimony from U.S. Park Police officers.
“We can state and prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he caused damage and that damage is over $1,000,” Pirro said during a July news conference.
In the weeks that followed, however, prosecutors said newly uncovered evidence changed their assessment. Court filings stated that inspections revealed damage in portions of the pool unlikely to have been reached by a vandal, while additional information pointed to flaws in the installation process and efforts to complete the project before Trump’s July 4 deadline.
“Given all of this newly discovered information, it is difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism, let alone to establish that fact beyond a reasonable doubt,” Pirro wrote in the motion seeking dismissal.
The Justice Department requested that the indictment be dismissed without prejudice, leaving open the possibility that charges could be refiled if additional evidence emerges.
Hearn’s attorneys argued that the administration’s explanation simply confirmed what they had maintained throughout the case.
“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,” attorneys Norm Eisen, Mary Dohrmann, and Steve Levin said in a statement.
