Trump Still Blames Reflecting Pool Destruction On 'VANDALS!' Despite DOJ Saying OtherwisePresident Donald Trump is still blaming “VANDALS!” for the destruction of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool that his renovations caused.On Friday, the Justice Department moved to dismiss a criminal case against a former Olympian who was accused of deliberately damaging the pool. But it’s Trump’s intended renovations that are to blame for its current state. “Given all of this newly discovered information, it is difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism, let alone to establish that fact beyond a reasonable doubt,” said the filing from U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro.Despite the lack of evidence that it was vandalism, Trump is still determined to blame anyone but himself.“I disagree 100% with Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, on the Reflecting Pool,” Trump posted on Truth Social Saturday. “I don’t know what she was thinking? To me, it was a pure case of VANDALISM, that included the grass, which had a big 86 47 emblazoned in giant letters on it, and other elements of the surrounding area. There may have been some contractor difficulty, but the major damage was caused by VANDALS!”Latest Live UpdatesAllies Fear The U.S. May Be Headed For A Strategic Defeat In Iran: NYTAllies believe the war in Iran has hurt the U.S. and left it in a weaker position, The New York Times reported.Experts who spoke to The Times said allies fear the U.S. has lost credibility amid Trump’s ever-shifting explanations for the war and his benchmarks for success. They expressed concerns that the war could spiral into an open-ended conflict, as any deal made would be viewed with skepticism by Iran.“No one wants to be subject to a whipsaw foreign policy that doesn’t know its limits, and that is a strategic defeat,” Robin Niblett, a former director of Chatham House, a think tank in London, told The Times.Read more at The New York Times:Key MomentTrump Says Mideast Allies Have Reached Outlines Of Deal To End Iran War, Says U.S. To Stop New StrikesPresident Donald Trump in a Saturday evening social media post claimed that Mideast allies have reached the parameters of a deal to end the Iran war and said that he would hold off on ordering new strikes in the five-month old conflict for now.Trump added that the emerging deal “would include the Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran’s nuclear threat.”“Based on this request, I have agreed, for the future benefit of the WORLD and, likewise, the survival of a successful and prosperous Iran, to cancel the attack, subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL,” Trump said.Read more from The Associated Press:Bomb Carried By Woman Kills Three, Injures 21 Near Moscow Restaurant, Authorities SayReuters reports:A homemade bomb carried by a woman killed three people and injured at least 21 in an explosion near an upscale restaurant in central Moscow on Saturday evening, the authorities said.The explosion occurred just before 2000 local time close to an Italian restaurant located in one of Moscow’s seven Stalin-era skyscrapers at Kudrinkskaya Square, the police said.Russia’s Anti-Terrorism Committee said that an unidentified woman had tried to get into the restaurant but was stopped by a security guard, the state RIA news agency reported.It said the woman, the security guard and a customer at the Balzi Rossi Italian restaurant had been killed in the blast that followed.Those injured received wounds of varying seriousness, the police said.Russia’s state RIA news agency released video of heavily armed law enforcement officers at the scene, which had been closed off to the public.The authorities did not name those killed or injured nor did they say who they thought might have been responsible.More than four years into a full-scale war with Ukraine, Russia’s FSB security service said earlier this year that authorities would step up protection for high-ranking military officials after a series of assassinations and attempted killings it blamed on Kyiv.The Kommersant daily newspaper cited its own sources as saying that the bomb had been intended to maim and kill guests who were enjoying themselves on the restaurant’s summer terrace outside.It suggested that the bomb had been set off by someone else remotely and that the woman carrying it may not have known that it was an explosive device.The restaurant’s website said the venue had been closed on Saturday for a private event.(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Mark Porter)'Sopranos' Actor Vincent Pastore Dies At 80Actor Vincent Pastore, best known for playing mobster Salvatore “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero on the hit HBO drama series “The Sopranos,” has died at age 80, according to multiple reports.“He was such a great guy. He was always helping charities. He would help anybody,” manager Bob McGowan told The Wrap. “My condolences to his family.”The Bronx-born actor was found deceased at home by a neighbor Saturday, the outlet reported.Trump, 80, Takes A Break From Iran War He Started To Post AI SlopPresident Donald Trump, 80, is spending yet another weekend posting AI slop on his social media account as the U.S. continues its war with Iran.On Saturday afternoon, Trump posted to Truth Social several AI images, including one of him as Elvis and another that shows him walking with a grey alien. His posting spree also included an image of him kissing a statue of Jesus Christ, and another of him leading a battle in the Revolutionary War. Trump has never served in the military.Posting fake images has become a weekend routine for the president, who spent hours last Sunday posting AI slop, including one that called himself and the U.S. the “guardians of the world” for attacking Iran.Eighteen U.S. troops have died and another 624 have been wounded since Trump started the war on Feb. 28.Justice Department Subpoenas NYT Freelancer In Effort To Reveal SourcesThe Justice Department subpoenaed a freelance journalist for The New York Times in an attempt to compel him to reveal his sources for an article about an unsuccessful top secret mission in North Korea, the newspaper reported Saturday.According the The Times, FBI agents showed up at the home of the reporter, Matthew Cole, to delivery a grand jury subpoena, which was issued by prosecutors in Newport News, Va.The subpoena, which the outlet wrote was not previously disclosed, is part of a broader pressure campaign from the Trump administration to investigate government leaks and target reporters in an effort to reveal their sources. Top U.S. General Warns Pentagon He Lacks Sufficient Resources To Protect IsraelA top U.S. military general in Europe warned Pentagon officials that he lacks sufficient naval forces to defend Israel against ballistic missile attacks fired by Iran and its allies.In a Washington Post exclusive, General Alexus Grynkewich, the head of U.S. European Command, had sent a written warning to the senior officials that saying that without another Navy destroyer he will be forced to protect the “homeland” over Israel, said the officials, who like some spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private correspondence.Read more of the Washington Post report here.Trump Threatens To Keep Todd Blanche As Acting Attorney General, Push Ahead Slush FundTrump asserted in his Truth Social post that he would keep acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in his current role and press ahead on the “Anti-Weaponization Fund” if Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina refuse to back the former federal prosecutor who was key member of Trump’s defense team when the Republican battled four indictments.The administration needs their votes but both lawmakers have protested Blanche’s selection because of a lawsuit settlement that created a $1.8 billion fund to compensate people who feel mistreated by the criminal justice system and provided Trump and family members with immunity from tax audits.Read more: UEFA Says It Has Lost Confidence In FIFA's Infantino After Failed Private Equity Plan For World CupNYON, Switzerland (AP) — UEFA says it has lost confidence in FIFA President Gianni Infantino and that “no option should be off the table” as it will pursue a full review of his now abandoned plan to sell stakes of the World Cup to private equity investors.Infantino had proposed creating a $20 billion company to run the World Cup with private investors, but drew backlash that grew every day since Tuesday’s announcement.Read more: Jeanine Pirro Blames Department Of Interior For Her Failed Reflecting Pool CaseDistrict of Columbia U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro blamed the Department of Interior (DOI) for her failed criminal case against a former Olympian she accused of damaging the Reflecting Pool. In a new filing on Friday, Pirro said she was dropping the charges because her office had received information “showing that the damage was the result of a botched installation and not vandalism as initially represented by DOI,” which is helmed by Secretary Doug Burgum.Pirro also placed some blame on President Donald Trump’s demand that renovations on the pool be completed by the country’s 250th birthday on July 4. “The rush to complete the project led to hasty and botched work that was not remediated before the project was finished and the fencing removed,” she argued. After the return of the indictment against former Olympic canoeist David Hearn, Pirro said the DOI presented new evidence proving vandalism likely had nothing to do with the damaged memorial.“A recent visual inspection showed damage throughout the Reflecting Pool, even in the middle of the pool, where a vandal would not likely attempt to peel the lining,” the filing reads. “Given all of this newly discovered information, it is difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism.”Pirro’s claims contradict her statements earlier this month, in which she confidently asserted that Hearn had intentionally caused more than $1,000 in damages to the pool by “forcefully and violently” pulling on the liner. “This is a case with tremendous evidence,” she said during a news conference announcing the felony charge against Hearn.See All Updates