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Trump-appointed official threatens prosecution after five arrested in relation to reflection pool problems
Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.
Five people have reportedly been arrested for vandalizing Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool in Washington DC, with Donald Trump insisting repair work will begin “immediately”.
CBS News reporter Emma Nicholson tweeted on Sunday that an administration official told her five people had been arrested for vandalizing the pool and another five issued federal citations, bring the total number of police reports filed to 14, including one related to an alleged 250ft gash in the pool.
It has been plagued by algae blooms and peeling paint following the controversial recent renovation efforts for America’s 250th anniversary celebrations next month.
On Sunday, Trump said he had personally surveyed the damage. “Work will begin immediately on fixing the seriously vandalized Reflecting Pool,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Sunday evening.
“I just inspected it, and could only say to myself, and those gathered around me, WOW, who would do such a thing?” the president added, without offering further details. He said the pool would “probably” be drained as part of the repair works.
Three-time Olympian David Hearn, who was apprehended, told the Washington Post that he had merely stopped by the pool to touch one of the peeling pieces of paint liner to see how it felt, when he was arrested by US park police on a misdemeanor charge.
Trump gave no details on any other apparent arrests and exact details of such apprehensions remained scant on Sunday afternoon.
Meanwhile, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro, said on Sunday afternoon that citations for vandalism had been issued and people caught vandalizing the 2,000-ft-long reflecting pool will be fully prosecuted.
“Anyone who is in a position of vandalizing or attempting to vandalize will face the criminal justice system in DC,” Pirro told Fox News’s Sunday Briefing. Anyone adding products to the pool that can generate algae could face more severe charges, Pirro added, but did not offer statistics or specific details of arrests.
Read the full story here:
In other developments:
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Donald Trump threatened to resume war with Iran even as his vice-president JD Vance met Iranian officials to begin peace talks in Switzerland. Also overshadowing negotiations in Bürgenstock was Tehran’s announcement it had again closed the strait of Hormuz, a threat made because of ongoing Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon.
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US political figures from left and right have voiced fresh objections to Trump’s provisional deal with Iran. Outgoing Republican senator John Cornyn posted a line on X from a Wall Street Journal article on how rogue regimes evade US economic warfare. Senior Democratic figure Susan Rice added to her recent description of the US-Iran deal as a “horrific surrender” by Trump, calling it “egregious” because “so many concessions were granted up front”.
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At least seven people have been killed and dozens injured in several shootings in Chicago since Friday, police said, with Trump again calling for military intervention in the midwestern city. In a post on Truth Social, the president questioned why Illinois’s governor, JB Pritzker, had not welcomed military deployment.
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Nine months after Trump ordered an anti-crime taskforce on to the streets of Memphis, a small band of dedicated observers is attempting to monitor its actions. They have alleged widespread intimidation by agents, who stand accused in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee of having tailed cars, surveilled homes and even “falsely arrested” one community observer.
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Public health resources across the US are failing to keep pace with the rapid growth of online gambling, problem health advocates warned, after Trump endorsed the controversial nationwide surge of prediction markets.
Key events
Trump continues evidence-free and changing claims about reflecting pool
Further to our earlier post about the reported arrests made and federal citations issued after the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool was allegedly “vandalized”, Donald Trump has claimed that the pool “has been given a 300 foot long gash, chemicals have been illegally placed in the water, and the beautiful new grass field has been destroyed with a gigantic 86 47 chemically carved into it.”
It’s worth noting that on Saturday, Trump alleged a “250 foot gash” and has still not provided evidence of that, and now appears to be claiming it was actually 300 ft.
Also, authorities have been investigating the 86 47 that was recently etched onto a vast patch of grass on the National Mall. It’s unclear if Trump is referring to that as one of the subjects of the aforementioned arrests or federal citations, or if he’s just running through some of the “real problems” the pool has faced in general.
The Trump administration spent over $16m to renovate the reflecting pool, only for it to be swiftly plagued by algae blooms and peeling paint.
Here’s what the president posted on Truth Social:
Of the MANY Statues and Fountains that we rebuilt, renovated, cleaned, and fixed, the only one that was Vandalized was the Reflecting Pool, which is being taken care of, ASAP! It has been given a 300 foot long gash, chemicals have been illegally placed in the water, and the beautiful new grass field has been destroyed with a gigantic 86 47 chemically carved into it (Probably inspired by Dirty Cop, James Comey!). Please remember that there is a 10 year prison sentence for the destruction, or even the attempted destruction, of such things – Which will be fully enforced!
A reminder that “86” is frequently used across the restaurant industry to mean “stop” or to get rid of something, while Trump is the 47th president of the US. Former FBI director James Comey was indicted by a federal grand jury earlier this year over an Instagram photo he posted of seashells arranged to spell out “8647”.
Niamh Rowe
The artificial intelligence industry is spending heavily in the 2026 midterms, hoping to secure influence over the technology’s first generation of legislation – and New York City’s primary has emerged as the key battleground.
AI-focused Super Pacs have raised roughly $100m this cycle, of which $44m has been spent so far, in dozens of congressional races across the country. Nearly half of all spending has converged on a single Manhattan race: tomorrow’s Democratic primary in the district of NY-12.
And much of that spending has targeted a single candidate: Democratic assemblymember Alex Bores, who is running to represent New York’s 12th House district. Bores, who worked in tech before his pivot to politics, has found himself at the unlikely center of a proxy battle for the industry’s tussle for regulatory influence.
Here’s Niamh’s report:
Vance says US-Iran talks have laid ‘very good foundation for a successful final deal’
Yohannes Lowe
Earlier, JD Vance said the US and Iranian teams made “great progress” in talks yesterday, with the help of mediation from Qatar and Pakistan, and had created a “good foundation for a successful final deal” to end the war.
“The final deal is the house,” the US vice president told reporters in Bürgenstock. “We set the foundation. We haven’t built the house, but we’ve laid a successful foundation to get to a good place for the American people.”
He said Iran has agreed to invite International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors back into their country.
“This is probably what we are most excited about as Americans,” Vance told reporters, as he confirmed that he will head back to the US as technical negotiations in Switzerland continue.
Talking about the return of IAEA inspectors, Vance added that it represented “a major milestone for the American people and the first step in permanently ending a nuclear weapons programme in Iran”.
When asked how soon IAEA inspectors could come to Iran, Vance said: “I expect that will happen at the minimum this week, but we think even some of those conversations with the inspectors and with the IAEA could happen as soon as today.”
Vance also suggested that the US could agree to unfreeze Iranian assets for purchases of American soy, corn and wheat.
Michael Sainato
A progressive Democrat challenging a veteran congressman to represent the party in a closely watched New York race for US Congress has claimed the city has deteriorated on his watch.
Darializa Avila Chevalier, one of three allies that New York City’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani, has endorsed in competitive congressional Democratic primaries in the city on Tuesday, is seeking to unseat incumbent Adriano Espaillat in the state’s 13th congressional district.
During a recent candidate forum held by WNYC, Espaillat – the five-term Democrat who chairs the influential Congressional Hispanic caucus – claimed Avila Chevalier was not experienced enough. “Getting results in Congress is not a PhD program,” he declared, referencing her studies at the City University of New York.
But in an interview with the Guardian, Avila Chevalier argued Espaillat had failed to produce such results since taking office.
“You just have to look around our district and ask: have things gotten any better in the nine years that he’s been in office?” she said. “I would argue the answer is no, because we’ve seen an exodus of over 200,000 Black New Yorkers leave the city in the last two decades.”
Trump-appointed official threatens prosecution after five arrested in relation to reflection pool problems
Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.
Five people have reportedly been arrested for vandalizing Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool in Washington DC, with Donald Trump insisting repair work will begin “immediately”.
CBS News reporter Emma Nicholson tweeted on Sunday that an administration official told her five people had been arrested for vandalizing the pool and another five issued federal citations, bring the total number of police reports filed to 14, including one related to an alleged 250ft gash in the pool.
It has been plagued by algae blooms and peeling paint following the controversial recent renovation efforts for America’s 250th anniversary celebrations next month.
On Sunday, Trump said he had personally surveyed the damage. “Work will begin immediately on fixing the seriously vandalized Reflecting Pool,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Sunday evening.
“I just inspected it, and could only say to myself, and those gathered around me, WOW, who would do such a thing?” the president added, without offering further details. He said the pool would “probably” be drained as part of the repair works.
Three-time Olympian David Hearn, who was apprehended, told the Washington Post that he had merely stopped by the pool to touch one of the peeling pieces of paint liner to see how it felt, when he was arrested by US park police on a misdemeanor charge.
Trump gave no details on any other apparent arrests and exact details of such apprehensions remained scant on Sunday afternoon.
Meanwhile, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro, said on Sunday afternoon that citations for vandalism had been issued and people caught vandalizing the 2,000-ft-long reflecting pool will be fully prosecuted.
“Anyone who is in a position of vandalizing or attempting to vandalize will face the criminal justice system in DC,” Pirro told Fox News’s Sunday Briefing. Anyone adding products to the pool that can generate algae could face more severe charges, Pirro added, but did not offer statistics or specific details of arrests.
Read the full story here:
In other developments:
-
Donald Trump threatened to resume war with Iran even as his vice-president JD Vance met Iranian officials to begin peace talks in Switzerland. Also overshadowing negotiations in Bürgenstock was Tehran’s announcement it had again closed the strait of Hormuz, a threat made because of ongoing Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon.
-
US political figures from left and right have voiced fresh objections to Trump’s provisional deal with Iran. Outgoing Republican senator John Cornyn posted a line on X from a Wall Street Journal article on how rogue regimes evade US economic warfare. Senior Democratic figure Susan Rice added to her recent description of the US-Iran deal as a “horrific surrender” by Trump, calling it “egregious” because “so many concessions were granted up front”.
-
At least seven people have been killed and dozens injured in several shootings in Chicago since Friday, police said, with Trump again calling for military intervention in the midwestern city. In a post on Truth Social, the president questioned why Illinois’s governor, JB Pritzker, had not welcomed military deployment.
-
Nine months after Trump ordered an anti-crime taskforce on to the streets of Memphis, a small band of dedicated observers is attempting to monitor its actions. They have alleged widespread intimidation by agents, who stand accused in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee of having tailed cars, surveilled homes and even “falsely arrested” one community observer.
-
Public health resources across the US are failing to keep pace with the rapid growth of online gambling, problem health advocates warned, after Trump endorsed the controversial nationwide surge of prediction markets.
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