Trump Demands to Know if Woman at ‘All’ His Projects Is ‘Paid Protester’ - Newsweek

President Donald Trump launched a Truth Social tirade on Sunday demanding investigations into what he characterized as “paid protesters” after footage circulated online showing a woman at multiple demonstrations.

Trump shared social media posts from conservative journalist Emily Miller, who has claimed that the same woman was present at separate protests months apart, involving two projects championed by Trump: first at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and later at the site of his proposed triumphal arch.

The administration renovated the Reflecting Pool earlier this year, while the planned 250-foot arch would stand near Arlington Memorial Bridge, between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.

The claims that the woman was a paid protester are unsubstantiated, as neither Trump nor Miller has provided evidence to support the allegation or identified who might have paid her.

In one Truth Social post, Trump thanked Miller and said there were “many such people all over” who “attempt to stop or defer Great Developments, Projects, and even Policies.” He said Miller had caught the woman “REDHANDED.”

Miller had encountered the unidentified woman months earlier during a “Team Algae” protest at the Reflecting Pool in June. The demonstrations followed the Trump administration's renovation of the 2,030-foot pool, which was drained and repainted “American flag blue.” Algae subsequently returned to the pool, prompting protesters to rally around the tongue-in-cheek “Team Algae” banner.

Trump has previously accused protesters opposing his administration and its policies of being paid demonstrators, including during the June 2025 protests in Los Angeles, when he described some demonstrators as “paid insurrectionists” and “paid troublemakers.”

He has made similar claims about protests against his administration’s immigration enforcement policies, alleging that some participants were professional or paid agitators.

In the video, Miller, a conservative commentator, approaches a woman protesting, wearing a hand-lettered shirt that reads "Team Algae" along with political and economic slogans. Miller questions whether the woman is receiving compensation to participate in the demonstration.

"Are you working today?" Miller asks in the clip. "I just thought you're getting paid to do this."

The protester denies being a paid participant and defends her right to demonstrate.

"Is there a contract that I signed that said I have to scream?" the woman replies. "I'm not getting paid [by] anyone to protest or to support."

Miller presses her further, saying that refusing to give a straight answer "makes you look guilty."

"It makes you look like an ass trying to get me to respond to some stupid question that the right asks everybody," the protester responds. She goes on to accuse Miller of pushing "propaganda" before launching into a profane critique of conservative supporters.

"I cannot stand you hypocritical people," the woman shouts during the encounter. "Everybody on the right... everybody who is supporting this jackass."

Newsweek has reached out to the White House via email for comment and to Miller via Instagram.

It comes amid growing backlash over a series of Trump-related construction and landmark projects in Washington, including his proposed 250-foot triumphal arch, which faces opposition from preservationists, veterans, and local officials over its potential impact on historic views and the character of Arlington National Cemetery.

The Reflecting Pool renovation also led to a criminal case after former Olympic canoeist David Hearn was accused of damaging its new lining. Prosecutors later acknowledged evidence showed the damage resulted from a flawed installation rather than Hearn, and on Thursday a D.C. judge permanently dismissed the charge.

The administration's efforts to reshape and rename prominent institutions have also drawn controversy, including its attempt to add Trump's name to the Kennedy Center, a move that was blocked by a federal judge and later resulted in his name being removed from the building. Trump has also pursued changes to other prominent sites and institutions, including proposals to rename New York's Penn Station and Washington's Dulles International Airport after himself.

The arch project has separately drawn scrutiny over its approval process, with officials reporting about 1,600 public comments, more than 99.5% of which opposed the design.

Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Tobias Meyjes and Cristina Diciu.