Trump made the claim without providing evidence or explaining why he believes vandals damaged the grass. He shared a photo showing an area by the World War II Memorial with patches of brown and dead grass across much of the sprawling turf that was previously full of green grass.

“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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“Anybody who thinks the Reflecting Pool wasn’t vandalized should go back to Law School!” he continued.

TRUMP URGES JEANINE PIRRO TO REVISIT DROPPED LINCOLN MEMORIAL REFLECTING POOL VANDALISM CASE

Trump had a large stage built and invited crowds to the same lawn for his Independence Day celebration last month. He is now blaming vandals for the grass damage. Crowds gathered to hear from the president and watch fireworks to celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary.

Photos from the celebration show a large bandstand and seating areas covering nearly the entire lawn Trump now says was damaged by vandals. Photos from subsequent days showed workers removing the structures, revealing brown and damaged grass underneath. The photographs show that event infrastructure occupied much of the affected lawn, but do not by themselves establish what caused all of the grass damage.

Trump has repeatedly blamed vandals for damage to his renovation projects in Washington, D.C., often without evidence and contradicting accounts from his officials.

Earlier this month, Trump criticized U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro after her office moved to dismiss the vandalism case after newly disclosed evidence showed widespread liner damage stemming from a flawed installation and the rush to complete the project ahead of Independence Day events, undermining the case against the defendant.

On Friday, an arrest was made in connection with vandalism at the World War II Memorial after the words “Clean hands dirty $” were found painted on the monument and bubbles filled a fountain.

Felony charges in that case are being brought against Melissa Farris, according to Pirro.

Charging documents in that case do not mention the once-grassy area Trump referred to in his new social media post. Authorities said Farris was previously arrested for camping on federal property a few blocks from the World War II Memorial, but not the spot referenced by Trump.

OBAMA JUDGE HANDS PROGRESSIVES A WIN OVER ANTI-TRUMP ’86 47′ MESSAGE AMID RISING THREATS

On Aug. 1, Trump posted a different photo of the same area of dead that appears to show the numbers “86 47,” which federal officials argue is a threat against Trump. The numbers are not visible in the photo Trump shared on Sunday.

Trump cited that image as evidence against Pirro’s conclusion, describing it as “a pure case of VANDALISM, that included the grass.”

“There may have been some contractor difficulty, but the major damage was caused by VANDALS!” he wrote.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

That is why the NFL Players Association will consider whether to make a requirement for grass fields across the NFL a top-tier demand in future collective bargaining negotiations with the league, according to a union source.

A final decision on that approach is not imminent, the source said.

FORMER NFL TIGHT END GREG OLSEN WEIGHS IN ON LEAGUE’S TWO BIGGEST CONTROVERSIES HEADING INTO 2026

The reason this is an issue now is that NFL players watched World Cup matches on grass fields played in six NFL stadiums that normally house artificial turf. The last of those happened Sunday at MetLife Stadium, where the Final between Argentina and Spain was decided on a field sodded with North Carolina Bermuda grass.

And that made the NFL players long for the grass fields they believe are easier on their bodies and perhaps mitigate some injuries.

But MetLife will be converted back to turf in the coming weeks in preparation for the New York Giants and New York Jets to play preseason and regular-season games and the five other venues that hosted World Cup games have already torn out the million-dollar grass fields and replaced them with man-made turf.

The NFL players who longingly watched the same stadiums they play in go from artificial turf to grass started a social media campaign to keep the grass. Aligned with the NFLPA, players such as San Francisco Giants tight end George Kittle and Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams advocated for playing on grass fields across the entire league.

But that campaign hasn’t and probably won’t change anything. It’s a losing battle because it relies on NFL owners making a conscious decision to lose money – either by having to more often replace grass fields after events such as concerts, or hosting fewer events.

The social media campaign was an appeal that will have no effect in the coming season.

That leaves the NFLPA considering whether to advocate for the overwhelming desire of its membership in both casual and then formal talks with the NFL in hopes of including the issue in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement after the current one expires in March 2031.

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There is no certainty this will happen because, as one NFLPA source told Fox News Digital, asking for something always means having to give up something and that often means money in negotiations with owners – as in players would get less.

To get grass mandated in a CBA, the players would have to give up something else. At a bare minimum, the league would want to split the total cost of installing and maintaining grass in stadiums where more durable turf is the norm.

Owners might also try to make the installation of grass fields part of an exchange for the addition of an 18th regular-season game and more international games.

Without a collectively bargained agreement on the topic, players will be left at the whim of owners who may or may not decide to replace their turf with grass to please their players.

“That’s a hope and hope is not often a good strategy for getting what you need,” a player union source said.

The Buffalo Bills will meet that hope because they have installed grass in their new Highmark Stadium that will debut in the coming season. But that means that 14 other NFL stadiums, housing 16 home teams, will continue use synthetic turf.

That includes the stadiums that hosted World Cup matches played on grass.

Follow Armando Salguero on X: @ArmandoSalguero

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A common piece of advice for those who are chronically online is to “go touch grass.” This upcoming season of How To, co-hosts Natalie Brennan and Julie Beck will look more closely at the often-fraught, always-changing relationship people have with technology. They’ll explore how people can be more intentional with their devices, rebuild their attention span, and find a way to thrive in this fast-paced, image-driven culture. Episodes will feature personal experimentation and conversations with experts in anxiety, education, and new technology. The first episode of How to Touch Grass publishes Monday, July 27, and new episodes are released every Monday for five weeks. Subscribe now.

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The following is a transcript:

Julie Beck: If you had one word—it can be any part of speech you want—to describe your overall relationship to technology at this moment in time, what would that word be?

Person 1: Antagonistic?

Person 2: Complicated.

Person 3: Fraught.

Person 4: Connection.

Person 5:  I was gonna say “reluctant,” but maybe that’s not right.

[Music]

Julie Beck: I’m Julie Beck, a staff writer at The Atlantic.

Natalie Brennan: And I’m Natalie Brennan, a producer at The Atlantic.

Beck: And in this upcoming season of How To, we’ll be exploring the often-fraught, always-changing relationship people have with technology. And the ways that in this moment, the terms of the relationship are being renegotiated.

Clay Routledge: Around two-thirds of Gen Z adults say they’re nostalgic for a time before they were alive. They love technology, but they wanna be in control of it, not feel controlled by it.

Brennan: We’ve been thinking a lot about how our relationship with our devices is all tangled up in our relationships to one another.

Jenny Odell: We don’t realize how much of our habits kind of live in other people around us. Think about it: When do you pick up your phone? It’s when the person you’re talking to picks up their phone.

Beck: And how tech helps us solve some problems, while also creating new ones.

Sophie Gilbert: I don’t think anyone is supposed to see their own face as much as we do now. We’re just like front-facing camera, front-facing camera, front-facing camera, and it’s weird. It’s warping our brains.

Brennan: We’re searching for ways to un-warp our brains.

Beck:  A common piece of advice for those who have been brain-rotted by the internet is to “go touch grass.” Um, so are you also telling us to touch grass?

Odell: Yeah, pretty much.

[Music]

Beck: Coming this summer is How to Touch Grass.

Brennan: The first episode arrives Monday, July 27. Subscribe now.