Trump Uses Final Midterm Speech to Talk Reflecting Pool Renovations Before Turning to Democrats
President Donald Trump spent the opening minutes of his final pre-election speech Monday at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool describing its renovation, then warned that Democrats would stop his administration's work. The speech came one day before midterm elections that will decide control of Congress.
President Donald Trump used his final speech before Tuesday’s midterm elections on Monday to talk at length about the renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, speaking from the National Mall with the pool and the Washington Monument behind him.
Trump, who chose the pool as the site for a speech the White House billed as his closing argument, discussed the renovations for more than 15 minutes at the start of his remarks, according to USA Today. He showed before-and-after photographs of the pool and described work on its granite and piping.
“And by the way, we resurfaced the granite. This granite was all resurfaced,” Trump said, according to USA Today. “We’ve now fixed all the piping, it’s in great shape.”
He also pointed to an algae problem in the pool before it closed for renovations, saying, “Tremendous algae problem,” while displaying a photograph of the pool as it had looked before the work.
Trump turns to the election
Roughly 22 minutes into the speech, Trump turned to Tuesday’s elections, which will decide which party controls Congress for the final two years of his term. He attacked Democrats and said they wanted to stop the work of his administration.
“We can’t let that happen,” Trump said, according to USA Today. “We have to keep our Congress strong, free.”
At the start of the speech, Trump joked that he was renaming the pool after himself, then said he was only joking and asked reporters not to report it as a real plan. He said the pool was now better than it had ever been, calling it “a beautiful thing” and “a work of art in many ways.”
USA Today reported that Democrats have accused Trump of paying more attention to Washington building projects, including a White House ballroom and helipad, than to Americans’ concerns about affordability. The economy and the rising cost of living have dominated the midterm campaign, according to surveys cited by USA Today.
What voters face on Tuesday
The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index stood at 48 in October, near the record low of 44.8 set in May, according to USA Today. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index rose to 91.7 in October. A Reuters/Ipsos poll found 36% of voters thought Democrats were better placed to handle the cost of living, compared with 28% who chose Republicans.
More than 54 million Americans had already cast ballots before Election Day, according to the University of Florida Election Lab, cited by USA Today. That is 8 million more than had voted early in 2022.
Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, warned supporters at a rally about 40 miles north of Houston that Republicans could lose statewide races in Texas if their voters did not turn out on Tuesday. He said nearly three-quarters of the most loyal Democrats had already voted, but less than half of loyal Republicans had done so.
“It’s real simple math,” Cruz said, according to USA Today. “If our people show up tomorrow, we win. That’s it. We’ve got the numbers.”
Reporting based on coverage by USA Today.
