Trump blames vandals for damaged grass in the same spot where he held his big July 4 celebration

President Donald Trump accused vandals of damaging grass in a specific location on the National Mall near the World War II Memorial on Sunday. This area is where Trump had erected a stage and hosted a July 4 celebration. Trump made the claim in a social media post, but did not explain why he believes the damage was caused by vandals rather than the foot traffic from the Independence Day festivities.

He shared a photo of the once-grassy area, which is now mostly brown and patchy. Trump tweeted, "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." He added, "Anybody who thinks the Reflecting Pool wasn’t vandalized should go back to Law School!"

Trump has often blamed vandals for damages to his renovation projects in Washington, without any evidence and sometimes despite contradicting statements from his officials. In a recent case, Trump criticized U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro after she concluded that the damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was due to poor construction, not vandalism.

Authorities announced an arrest on Friday in connection with vandalism at the World War II Memorial, after the words "Clean hands dirty $" were painted on the monument and bubbles filled a fountain. However, these charges do not include the grassy area Trump is currently criticizing. The incident Trump is highlighting occurred during a large stage setup and crowd gathering for a July 4 event to commemorate the nation's 250th anniversary.

Trump claimed thousands of people attended the event, although photos taken by a webcam atop the Washington Monument show that the structures were removed after the storm hit, leaving brown and damaged grass underneath. On August 1, Trump posted another photo of the same area, which appears to have the numbers "86 47" carved into the grass.

He cited this as evidence to refute Pirro's conclusion, calling it "a pure case of VANDALISM, that included the grass." Trump wrote, "There may have been some contractor difficulty, but the major damage was caused by VANDALS!" However, the photo posted on Sunday does not show these numbers.