President Donald Trump faulted Jeanine Pirro, his handpicked federal prosecutor for Washington, D.C., for dropping a criminal charge against a former Olympian accused of damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Federal prosecutors had moved to dismiss the charge on Friday, saying that the lining of the renovated pool broke apart due to “flawed” contracting work. But Trump on Saturday insisted without providing evidence that vandalism was to blame.

“I don’t know what she was thinking? To me, it was a pure case of VANDALISM,” Trump posted on social media. “There may have been some contractor difficulty, but the major damage was caused by VANDALS!”

The dust-up marks a notable rift between Trump and the Justice Department, which he has controlled very tightly during his second term, erasing the agency’s decades-long tradition of operating with independence. It’s also an unusual moment where a prominent senior member of Trump’s administration publicly contradicted him.

Trump is currently trying to win confirmation for Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who has previously represented Trump as his personal attorney, to hold the post on a more permanent basis. Blanche’s confirmation has been held up by a pair of Republican senators who have voiced concerns about politically motivated decisions, particularly a deal giving Trump and his family sweeping immunity from tax-related investigations.

Trump’s attack on Pirro underscored the president’s long-running preoccupation with his construction projects in the nation’s capital, even as his administration has been beset with political and economic crises stemming from the war in Iran and its effect on Americans who have grappled for years with the high cost of living.

After Trump’s post, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum echoed the accusation that vandals had caused damage to the reflecting pool, adding that his agency provided relevant evidence to the U.S. attorney’s office. In his post on X, he didn’t provide any fresh evidence or mention Hearn.

Back in early July, Pirro had called a news conference to accuse David Hearn, a former slalom canoeist, of “forcefully and violently” ripping the lining of the newly refurbished pool. Hearn pleaded not guilty to a felony count.

However, on Friday, the U.S. attorney’s office said in a court filing that evidence showed damage to the pool was the result of a flawed installation, and Pirro said the new information made it difficult to attribute the problems to vandalism.

Trump has frequently accused unnamed vandals of carving a “350-foot gash” into the pool’s surface, despite no evidence of any such damage.

The $14 million renovation project for the reflecting pool, which Trump directed and has frequently touted, has been plagued by problems. After Trump selected a new “American Flag Blue” coating for the base of the pool, chunks of the lining started peeling away, with some floating in the water even as workers battled against a widespread outbreak of algae.

The president has criticized his predecessors for letting the pool fall into disrepair and ordered it to be lined with a blue coating designed to prevent leaks.

But after the first round of repairs failed, workers had to drain the pool for a second time for another round of work.

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(With assistance from Jennifer A. Dlouhy.)

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