White House Protocol Chief Monica Crowley posted a group photograph with President Donald Trump and U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro after weeks of uncertainty over her relationship with the president.
Crowley shared the image, captioning it simply “SQUAD” in all capital letters alongside three red, white and blue heart emojis. The photo showed Crowley alongside Pirro, Medicare Chief Dr. Mehmet Oz and his wife, Lisa Oz, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Jeanette Rubio, the wife of Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Jeanine’s inclusion is notable because it came amid a public dispute between her and Donald over her handling of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool “vandalism” case, a rift that has fueled speculation about whether she would keep her job.
The Reflecting Pool case that sparked the feud
The controversy began with renovation work on the Reflecting Pool between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. Donald had publicized the beautification project earlier in the year, describing the landmark as “filthy” and neglected under the Biden administration, while working with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on cleaning and restoring the pool.
After the pool’s blue lining began peeling up, Donald repeatedly claimed the damage was deliberate vandalism. He said someone cut the lining and maintained that he had video evidence supporting the claim.
Federal prosecutors in Jeanine’s office subsequently brought a felony charge against former Olympic canoeist David Hearn and charges against several others.
Jeanine’s office ultimately moved to dismiss the charge after prosecutors received additional evidence indicating that the damage resulted from flawed installation rather than intentional vandalism.
Donald’s public rebuke of Jeanine
Donald rejected that explanation. He told reporters that Jeanine “choked” and “folded like an umbrella” by dropping the charges, while insisting he still had video evidence proving deliberate vandalism.
He went further in a Truth Social post, writing, “Now that people are able to see it up close, they are reporting pure VANDALISM at The Reflecting Pool,” adding, “U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro should re-visit her hastily made decision.”
In the same post, Donald also described the Olympic canoeist facing the now-dropped felony charge as tied to ActBlue, the Democratic fundraising platform.
Donald, who has known Jeanine for years and was familiar with her from her time as a Fox News personality, said he is “very disappointed” in her over the case. When directly asked whether he intended to keep her as U.S. attorney, Donald said, “I haven’t made a determination.”
CNN’s Alayna Treene reported that Donald was “very strongly upset” that Jeanine did not give him advance notice before dropping the charges and that he was considering removing her from the role.
The tension escalated into a face-to-face confrontation. According to NBC News, citing a source briefed on the meeting, Jeanine and Donald “had it out” during a contentious sit-down in the Oval Office.
Following the meeting, Jeanine’s future as U.S. attorney was described as “deeply uncertain,” with the report noting that she faced additional pressure to secure indictments and convictions against Donald’s targets.
Despite the public criticism and reports that Donald was considering removing her, Jeanine remained in her post.
Donald did summon Jeanine to the White House after publicly criticizing her handling of the case.
Todd Blanche weighs in on whether Jeanine could be fired
Days before he was confirmed as full-time attorney general, Todd Blanche was asked directly whether Donald planned to fire Jeanine.
He did not rule it out, telling reporters, “Hypothetically, if the president chose to fire a United States attorney, it turns out he’s allowed to do that because he’s the president of the United States.”
Todd added, “And, by the way, if President Trump wanted to fire anybody within his administration, he understands he has the power to do that. So when he makes a decision about whether to fire a U.S. attorney or anybody else, that’s his call.”