Kathrine Frich
The president left out a key detail about how the lawn actually died.
Hosting a massive outdoor party usually means waking up to a ruined lawn the next day.
Most people accept the cleanup costs as part of the deal. The president has decided to blame criminals instead.
Pointing the finger
President Donald Trump took to Truth Social on Sunday evening with a complaint about the National Mall. He posted a photo of dead grass.
According to the Irish Star, he immediately blamed unnamed criminals for the mess. He linked the patchy lawn to recent vandalism at nearby historical sites.
He wrote, “Look what VANDALS did to the grass connecting the vandalized World War II Monument and the vandalized Reflecting Pool, which will be opened again, and better than ever, shortly.”
The real culprit
The president left out a key detail about how the lawn actually died. Just weeks ago, he hosted his own Great American State Fair on that exact spot to celebrate the Fourth of July.
The massive event featured heavy tents, temporary fencing, and a large central stage. Trump claimed a crowd of 400,000 people attended the celebration before a severe summer storm delayed the fireworks show.
Photos taken by The Associated Press show workers taking down those structures days later. Underneath the removed stages, the grass was completely brown and ruined.
Fighting his own officials
Trump has repeatedly blamed criminals for issues with his renovation projects in Washington. This habit has even caused him to publicly clash with his own appointed officials over the facts.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro recently concluded that poor construction work ruined the Reflecting Pool. Trump rejected her official findings entirely.
He told his followers, “Anybody who thinks the Reflecting Pool wasn’t vandalized should go back to Law School! President DONALD J. TRUMP.”
A separate arrest
Police did make a real arrest on Friday for actual property damage. Authorities charged Melissa L. Farris with a felony after someone painted the words “clean hands dirty $” on the World War II Memorial.
Vandals also poured soap bubbles into the monument’s fountain. But those official court documents never mention any damage to the surrounding lawn.
Even so, Trump stands firm on his theory. On August 1, he posted a photo claiming someone had burned the numbers 86 and 47 into the grass.
He insisted the dead turf proved his case over the official government reports, writing, “There may have been some contractor difficulty, but the major damage was caused by VANDALS!”
Sources: Irish Star, Truth Social, The Associated Press
