GOP senator questions if Trump even believes his Reflecting Pool claims

WASHINGTON, DC: Republican Sen John Kennedy said he isn't sure whether President Donald Trump truly believes his own claims that vandals damaged the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool

President Trump on Saturday, August 1, criticized US Attorney Jeanine Pirro for agreeing to dismiss the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool the vandalism case against former Olympian David Hearn.

John Kennedy questions whether Trump meant his remarks

“I don’t know whether he really believes that, or it’s part of his political messaging, or he’s just thinking out loud,” Kennedy told host Kristen Welker on NBC News’s 'Meet the Press'.

“You and I both know the president well,” the Louisiana Republican added. “He exists loudly, and he grows anxious when he has an unexpressed thought. I’m not saying he doesn’t really believe it, I just don’t know.”

Notably, the Justice Department on Friday, July 31, moved to drop its criminal prosecution of former Olympian David Hearn over allegations he damaged the Reflecting Pool.

Justice Department blames botched work, not David Hearn

In a 20-page filing, the Justice Department said the damage to the Reflecting Pool was caused by a “rushed and botched installation” carried out by Atlantic Industrial Coatings while repainting the bottom of the pool this spring and summer.

The department also criticized the Interior Department for providing a “barebones” report on the incident involving Hearn.

Prosecutors said the pool project quickly fell behind because of heavy rain and wind, repeated problems with testing the seals on the expansion joints, and delays in getting the sealing product to the worksite.

“The rush to complete the project led to hasty and botched work that was not remediated before the project was finished and the fencing removed,” prosecutors wrote.

Kennedy said Pirro was smart to dismiss the case against the Olympian, which he called a “multiple vehicle pileup.”

“Federal judges will not tolerate,” the GOP lawmaker told Welker on Sunday. “And so, I don’t know why she filed the suit without doing a full investigation. She says she relied on the Department of Interior. But she was smart to pull it back.”

Trump disagrees with Jeanine Pirro

Trump said he disagreed “100%” with Pirro’s decision to drop the case. The president appointed Pirro, a former local prosecutor and judge, to her post in May 2025.

“I don’t know what she was thinking?” the president wrote on Truth Social, referring to Pirro. “To me, it was a pure case of VANDALISM. … There may have been some contractor difficulty, but the major damage was caused by VANDALS!”