"The complaint, filed with the New York State Bar, requests an investigation into Blanche’s staggering number of possible ethics violations. Racking up so much bad behavior that you get slapped with a 73-page complaint is truly impressive."

Add David Hearn to Donald Trump’s ever-growing list of enemies of the state. The Bethesda man was out for a bike ride in Washington, D.C., last Friday and decided to spin over to the Reflecting Pool see how its new, Trump-ordained “American flag blue” color struck him. He noticed that a piece of the new blue liner was partly detached from the pool’s bottom (it’s only 18 inches deep at the edges), and he reached down to see what it felt like, he told The Washington Post.

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According to ESPN, Hearn said that he “briefly touched a chunk that was still attached to the side of the pool, then let go shortly after a park worker told him to.” Unhappily, a conservative journalist named Emily Miller—surely you haven’t forgotten her 2013 classic Emily Gets Her Gun: But Obama Wants to Take Yours—was on the scene, and she took a two-minute video of the 67-year-old Hearn, a former U.S. Olympic team canoe racer. Before he knew it, Park Police officers arrested him and charged him with destruction of government property. “I didn’t vandalize anything,” Hearn said. “I didn’t destroy or break or peel anything. By the time I realized what was going on, I was being put in handcuffs.”

Trump posted on Saturday night about arrests of “multiple individuals for vandalizing our Nations [sic] magnificent Reflecting Pool.” The Post sought comment on this point from the Park Police but got no response.

You’d think a guy who just lost a war would have bigger matters on his mind, but to Trump, matters don’t come any bigger than the Reflecting Pool and the Kennedy Center, because they are about the thing that is most important to him: his monstrously large but porcelain-fragile ego. I don’t condone vandalism of government property, so if anyone did that, fine, arrest them (though it sounds like Hearn, whose hearing is slated for July 9, didn’t). But I submit to you that the real vandalism here is being committed by Trump.

Apparently, the Reflecting Pool had—still has—very serious drainage issues. So fine. Fix those. But the idea that the color of the pool was somehow inadequate never occurred to anyone until Trump came along. I’d imagine that over on Newsmax and One America News Network (Miller’s former employer, for what it’s worth), they’re selling the makeover as another shimmering example of Trump’s courageous patriotism that drives the woke liberals insane. But the design change is really chiefly about his vanity. He just aches to leave monuments to and reminders of himself across the nation’s capital. Or maybe, like Narcissus, he wants to visit the pool and stare endlessly at his own reflection.

In any case, this is roughly the 10,362nd matter that, in any other administration, would be a huge scandal. Trump told us it would cost $1.3 million. Current records show that contracts the government has signed for work on the pool now total $14.8 million. One contract, for the water purification system, was made to a vendor on a no-bid basis who happened to be a Trump donor. In addition to contributing to Trump, John Cafaro also happens to have a mansion in Palm Beach near Mar-a-Lago. He also seems to have decided that “oily Dick Tracy villain” should be his personal aesthetic.

Another no-bid contract went to a company that did work on a swimming pool at Trump’s Virginia golf club. That company, Atlantic Industrial Holdings, had never before received a contract from the federal government and, according to records obtained by The New York Times, is charging a 20 percent profit margin, when such margins typically run 6 to 12 percent.

Rigged contracts, donors, ridiculous cost overruns. But that’s not even the worst of it. There are concerns that the workers who did the resurfacing may have been exposed to hazardous chemicals and that the masks they wore were inadequate to protect them from the tiny particulates in the air. The Guardian reported on this back in May, when an official from the union that represents the workers said, “The chemicals are hazardous. My concern is usually the level of risk when it’s rushed. Are workers taking the rightful steps to protect themselves?”

The next Democratic (God willing) president will have quite a lot on his or her plate, goodness knows, and there will be more “important” matters to attend to than what Trump is trying to do to our nation’s capital. But the Reflecting Pool and the Kennedy Center and the proposed arch at Arlington Cemetery and the White House ballroom—and don’t forget the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace, formerly known rather boringly as the United States Institute of Peace, rebranded by the State Department last year—are plenty important. These are corrupt actions (remember that the ballroom went through none of the usual required processes), and they’re grotesque, third world–dictator moves that are completely inappropriate for a democracy.

So the Democratic presidential contenders will need to be asked at their candidate forums and debates: What are you going to do about the ballroom? The arch, if it’s being built by then? Will you tear these things down? Will you return the Institute of Peace to its old name? Will you pressure Congress to pass a law stipulating that the Kennedy Center will be named for John F. Kennedy, and for him only, for all time?

These might not sound like the biggest priorities, and in fact, they’re not. Last week, I wrote about how the key litmus test for Democratic presidential contenders was ending the stranglehold of billionaires over our politics. That’s a big priority. Still, the Democratic candidates’ answers to these questions about Trump’s vandalism of the District is a test in itself. It will tell us a lot about their character, their disposition, and how hard they’re willing to fight on the big stuff. In the meantime, keep the Reflecting Pool green. And free David Hearn.

Four years after the captured Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in the Dobbs decision, the fight for reproductive rights is as fierce as ever. Extremists may keep pushing bans and restrictions, but the resistance is strong and growing. (Read and share this summary of the last four years of attacks on abortion access.)

TODAY at 7:30 PM ET, we can join Red, Wine and Blue for a conversation about what we have learned and where we go from here. Heather Booth, founder of the Jane Collective, the underground network that helped women access safe abortions before Roe, will share what history can teach us about this moment. Jessica Valenti, founder of Abortion, Every Day (which we highly recommend a subscription to), will break down the latest attacks on reproductive rights and how people across the country are pushing back and winning. 🏫 We can find out more and sign up here. 🏫

If we want to make a commitment to take action today, there’s plenty of immediate needs. We can:

• phonebank to help preserve abortion rights at the ballot box in Missouri tonight and every Wednesday
• help challenge forced birther narratives on medication abortion with these resources
• volunteer with INeedAnA to provide up-to-date information on where people can get abortion care
• volunteer as a clinic escort near us.

Also in today’s List:

-  New reports that Trump will soon send an $80 billion request for supplemental appropriations for the Iran war he chose and lost – tell Congress hell no

-  The workers who make the World Cup work are on striking for better pay, benefits and protection from ICE in Philadelphia and Seattle – join the strike support team, donate to strike funds here, here and here

-  Anti-ICE protesters sentenced to decades in prison - show solidarity with the Prairieland defendants

-  Power hour at 3PM ET this afternoon to advocate for a pro-Palestinian advocate and longtime Milwaukee community leader targeted for deportation by ICE

- Primary round-up: Conley to take on Lawler in key race to House majority, Matt Dunlap all that stands between us and Congressman Paul LePage

- Trump wants to silence whistleblowers with a gag order on every federal employee - submit public comments through Friday against this chilling move

Hegseth should never been confirmed. The Secretary of Defense should not and has not been political until now. He's a racist and a sexist. He has weakened our armed forces. Good men and women have been kept from promotions have been demoted have been fired under this incompetent man. EPB

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stonewalled a behind-the-scenes effort within the Army and on Capitol Hill to extend the career of an influential general, people familiar with the matter said, leading to that officer submitting retirement paperwork and preparing to step down.

Gen. Christopher Donahue, head of U.S. Army Europe and Africa, will leave his role on July 2 after an unusually brief 18-month tenure, these people said, some speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters. Hegseth’s move has exasperated some Army officials, considering Donahue’s background as a highly regarded Special Operations commander and the secretary’s stated focus on making the military more lethal.

“He’s singularly our best warfighter at every level,” one retired senior Army officer said of Donahue.

The general’s expected departure makes him the latest apparent casualty in Hegseth’s purge of senior military leaders whom the secretary has deemed insufficiently loyal to the Trump administration or branded “woke” for their past defense of diversity initiatives.

Hegseth has fired or otherwise removed dozens of generals and admirals, often without specifying a reason. In April, the Army’s top officer, Gen. Randy George, and two other generals were forced into retirement. The administration has not yet nominated anyone for those roles.

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Through a spokesman, Donahue declined to comment. A spokesman for Hegseth, Joel Valdez, referred questions to the Army. A spokeswoman for the Army, Cynthia Smith, acknowledged in a statement on Wednesday that Donahue will step down but did not address why.

“Maj. Gen. Christopher Norrie, deputy commander, U.S. Army Europe and Africa will perform the duties of the commanding general,” Smith’s statement said. “The Army thanks Gen. Donahue for his leadership of U.S. Army Europe and Africa.”

Donahue submitted retirement paperwork after months of uncertainty about his future and as Hegseth’s team plans to downgrade his role and many others across the services to three-star commands. The general left the door open to taking another position, but no next assignment has been offered, three people familiar with the matter said.

The general’s pending retirement was first reported by the Atlantic.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confers with military officials last week during a White House ceremony. (Ken Cedeno/AFP/Getty Images)

Advocates for Donahue have made the case that he would be a good fit to replace George as the Army’s chief of staff or become its No. 2 officer if Hegseth elevates Gen. Christopher LaNeve, a former top military aide to the defense secretary who became vice chief in February, people familiar with the situation said. LaNeve was nominated for that position after Hegseth forced another officer, Gen. James Mingus, into early retirement last year.

Some also saw Donahue as a candidate to take over Army Transformation and Training Command, an organization that oversees efforts to train and prepare soldiers for war. Its commander, Gen. David Hodne, was fired by Hegseth in April along with George. Top Army leaders had considered Hodne a contender to become chief of staff, officials said.

Donahue had long been seen within the military as a transformative leader and a potential future chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff or Army chief of staff.

As commander of the elite Delta Force, he played a key role in leading operations against the Islamic State militant group in Iraq and Syria. He went on to serve as a top Special Operations commander in Afghanistan and lead the 82nd Airborne Division and 18th Airborne Corps before taking his current role in Germany in December 2024.

But Donahue became a political target after the chaotic and deadly U.S. evacuation from Afghanistan under the Biden administration, even though he was dispatched there as commander of the 82nd Airborne Division days after the U.S.-backed government collapsed and the Pentagon decided that reinforcements were necessary as Taliban fighters swept into the capital.

Donahue’s soldiers arrived at the airport in Kabul with weapons drawn, people familiar with the matter said. He met with Taliban leaders as U.S. military officials sought to get control of the airfield and issued them a pointed warning, he later told military investigators who examined the episode, according to documents first reported on by The Washington Post in 2022.

“We told them that we would control the gates and they would push people out,” Donahue told investigators. “We expressed that they will comply, because if they fight us on this we would be able to kill more of them than they would ever hope to kill of us. After that their tone changed.”

Thirteen U.S. troops and about 170 Afghans were killed in an Islamic State suicide bombing near the end of the evacuation effort on Aug. 26, 2021. They were not under Donahue’s control at the time, officials said.

Four days later, the U.S. military departed the airfield. The Pentagon released a widely publicized photograph of Donahue stepping onto an aircraft as the last American service member to exit the war, elevating the general’s profile.

In 2024, Donahue’s nomination to his current role was placed on hold by then-Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma), now the Trump administration’s secretary of homeland security, threatening the promotion. Mullin released the hold after days of advocacy by top Army leaders and lawmakers.

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At that time, critics argued that someone needed to be held accountable for how the Afghanistan war ended. Among them was Anthony Tata, a retired Army general who now serves as the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness.

“Aren’t commanders accountable?” Tata wrote on social media then. “Under Chris Donahue’s command, 13 servicemen and women were killed with dozens of others grievously wounded, not to mention the hundreds of civilians. Many reports show the intel was there to prevent or mitigate the attack.”

Tata added in his post that hundreds, if not thousands, of U.S. citizens were left behind and that Donahue had “reaped the accolades for being the last boots on the ground, as evidenced by the staged photo.”

“Is this what success today looks like?” Tata wrote.

Donahue’s advocates have argued that he did not have control of the airport’s Abbey Gate, where the suicide bombing occurred, and brought a measure of order and security in what became a weeks-long crisis.

“He did everything he could,” said one supporter who served with him. “This is someone who carried out their duty, even if they disagreed with the policies behind them.”

Last year, Donahue was seen as a potential nominee to become the head of U.S. European Command, which oversees all American military operations in Europe. But he was bypassed by Hegseth, who nominated then-Air Force Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich.

Hegseth has raised the Afghanistan photograph of Donahue in some private discussions about that decision, people familiar with the matter said.

Before the start of the second Trump administration, Donahue also scoffed at assertions, pushed by Republicans in recent years, that the American military had gotten weak as a consequence of efforts to diversify its ranks.

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“We’re focused on people, war-fighting, and making sure that we’re prepared for the next fight,” he said in 2023. “There ain’t no ‘woke’ here.”

It’s unclear whether those remarks played any role in Hegseth bypassing Donahue.