When the sun rose on the National Mall this morning, the fountain of the World War II Memorial was filled with bubbles and the words “Clean hands dirty $” were written in red paint on the memorial’s granite wall.
“Our beautiful World War II Memorial was just hit by Spray Painting Vandals. THERE CAN BE NO GREATER INSULT TO THOSE AMERICAN HEROES WHO DIED IN WORLD WAR II,” President Donald Trump said in a post on social media.
An arrest has been made in connection with the vandalism, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro announced Friday.
“Vandalizing our World War II Memorial is a despicable attack on a sacred monument honoring the Americans who fought and died for our freedom,” Pirro said. “Those Americans include my father and grandfather.”
The Friends of the National World War II Memorial, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the memorial, said they were “deeply disturbed” by the vandalism.
“There are many places in our country for expression, debate, and disagreement,” the organization said in a press release Thursday. “A national memorial honoring those who served and those who never returned home should never be used as a canvas for vandalism.”
The vandalism follows months of debate surrounding Trump’s efforts to “rebuild” and “beautify” the nation’s capital and “make it totally safe.”
Trump campaigned on a promise to make D.C. “the most beautiful capital anywhere in the world” but hostility towards recent projects may limit his ability to do so.
Renovations to D.C. monuments encounter resistance
The World War II Memorial isn’t the first D.C. monument that has been making headlines recently.
Recent renovations to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool meant to enhance the pool’s color to an “American flag blue” began peeling quickly after the coating was finished and severe algae bloomed on the surface.
Trump said the effects were the result of vandalism.
Pirro said the results were due to poor construction, not vandalism, and moved to drop the criminal charges. Trump strongly criticized Pirro for the decision.
“I disagree 100% with Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, on the Reflecting Pool,” Trump said.
Trump also announced a project to build an arch in Washington, D.C., that, he said, “when completed, it will be without question, the Greatest Arch of them all!”
Opposing politicians argue the project is a “monument to Trump’s vanity” and waste of money.
Recently, Trump’s project to build a White House ballroom was stalled by a federal appeals court that ruled the president needed congressional approval.
The president appealed the court’s decision to the Supreme Court, which will review the case next week.
The project is set to provide resources such as bomb shelters, medical facilities and heavily-secured bunkers, which Trump argues are necessary for national security. The court ruling said the project cannot move forward, meaning the construction is stalled until the president either appeals and receives a different ruling or receives approval from Congress.
Trump’s deployment of the National Guard in D.C. hits 1 year anniversary
In August 2025, Trump announced he would deploy National Guard troops to patrol Washington D.C. Now, one year later, the White House said “the results are undeniable.”
“Under President Trump’s leadership, violent crime has been smashed to levels not seen in decades,” the White House said in a release. “Homicides have plunged. Carjackings, robberies, and overall crime have dropped sharply. What was once among America’s most dangerous cities is now on a clear path to become the safest and most beautiful capital in the world.”
Recently, the Pentagon confirmed that the National Guard will remain deployed in Washington, D.C., through 2029, according to NPR. The continued presence of the guard has faced scrutiny.
“For one year, the people who live and work in D.C. have faced the unnerving presence of military troops on our streets, ordered there by our own country’s federal government,” said Monica Hopkins, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in D.C.
“The Pentagon’s acknowledgment that the deployment will continue until 2029 confirms what we’ve said all along – there is no real emergency here. National Guard troops should only be deployed for true emergencies, like natural disasters or a riot at the capitol that attempts to disrupt the transfer of presidential power.”
Congresswoman Eleanor Norton, a congressional delegate representing the District of Columbia, said the deployment of military personnel in the District is “an affront to home rule and democratic self-government.”
A report released earlier this year from the Congressional Budget Office estimated that “generally, deploying 1,000 National Guard personnel to a U.S. city in 2026 would cost $18 million to $21 million per month, depending mainly on the city’s cost of living.” Thousands of troops are currently deployed in the city.
The District of Columbia National Guard said the Joint Task Force in D.C. remains “focused on what matters most: protecting our people, supporting our partners, and serving the community.”