By — Associated Press Associated Press Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-trump-says-jeanine-pirro-made-a-mistake-and-choked-on-reflecting-pool-vandalism-case-reversal Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter WATCH: Trump says Jeanine Pirro 'made a mistake' and 'choked' on Reflecting Pool vandalism case reversal Politics Aug 3, 2026 4:41 PM EDT President Donald Trump said Monday that U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro "folded like a cheap umbrella." Watch in the video player above. The president reiterated his disappointment with Pirro for a court filing in which her office blamed a contractor's shoddy work on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool rather than vandalism. "I guess she choked. I don't know what the hell happened," Trump said, later adding that the former Fox News host "folded like a cheap umbrella" in moving to drop criminal charges against the former Olympian accused of deliberately damaging the pool. Educate your inbox Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else. Enter your email address Subscribe Form error message goes here. Thank you. Please check your inbox to confirm. Trump refused to say whether he'd move to fire Pirro. But he also acknowledged that the contractor was "rushing" to finish the project before July 4 — which didn't ultimately happen. WATCH: Trump says new talks are 'last chance' for Iran to forge a deal And he suggested he "didn't know" the contractor working on it, contradicting his own comments from April when he said he chose the company involved since it had performed work at his golf course in Virginia. A free press is a cornerstone of a healthy democracy. Support trusted journalism and civil dialogue. Donate now By — Associated Press Associated Press
President Donald Trump said Monday that U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro "folded like a cheap umbrella." Watch in the video player above. The president reiterated his disappointment with Pirro for a court filing in which her office blamed a contractor's shoddy work on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool rather than vandalism. "I guess she choked. I don't know what the hell happened," Trump said, later adding that the former Fox News host "folded like a cheap umbrella" in moving to drop criminal charges against the former Olympian accused of deliberately damaging the pool. Educate your inbox Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else. Enter your email address Subscribe Form error message goes here. Thank you. Please check your inbox to confirm. Trump refused to say whether he'd move to fire Pirro. But he also acknowledged that the contractor was "rushing" to finish the project before July 4 — which didn't ultimately happen. WATCH: Trump says new talks are 'last chance' for Iran to forge a deal And he suggested he "didn't know" the contractor working on it, contradicting his own comments from April when he said he chose the company involved since it had performed work at his golf course in Virginia. A free press is a cornerstone of a healthy democracy. Support trusted journalism and civil dialogue. Donate now