Trump Delivers His Closing Midterm Argument at the Reflecting Pool — and Spends It on the Pool Itself
President Donald Trump chose the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool for his final address before Tuesday's midterms and opened it with more than 15 minutes on the pool's renovations, joking that he would rename it after himself before telling reporters he was only kidding.
President Donald Trump delivered his closing argument in the midterm elections on Monday afternoon in Washington, standing at the edge of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool — and the pool itself was his opening subject. In an election dominated by the economy and pocketbook concerns, Trump discussed his recent renovations of the pool for more than 15 minutes as he began his remarks, USA Today reported from the scene.
"And by the way, we resurfaced the granite. This granite was all resurfaced," Trump said. "It's really a beautiful thing. It's a work of art in many ways," he added, showing before-and-after shots of the Reflecting Pool. He also joked that he was renaming it the "Trump Reflecting Pool" — "We'll announce that some time tomorrow," he said — before pulling it back: "Now I'm only kidding. I'm only kidding. Please don't report it." "The pool is now better and more beautiful than it's ever been before," he said.
The setting had been built for the message. A small platform stood at the edge of the pool near the base of the steps leading up to the Lincoln Memorial, with a poster board behind the podium carrying an aerial image of the pool and the words "Back, and more beautiful than ever!", and signage on either side reading "Restoring our Capitol." Media gathered under a cloudy sky ahead of the 2 p.m. ET speech, and uniformed National Park Service workers were among the seated guests. Trump ordered the pool's renovation, which ran into problems he blamed on vandals and which Washington's top federal prosecutor later called the result of a "botched installation."
The speech capped a blitz of last-minute appearances in states where Republicans face competitive challengers. Tuesday's elections will determine who controls Congress for the final two years of Trump's term, with the fate of his political agenda hinging on the outcome — the verdict voters in the capital region and across the country deliver starting when polls open Tuesday morning.
