Trump's Closing Argument Was a Pool: 54 Minutes on Pipes, Paint and a Renaming Joke on the Eve of the Vote
Facing elections that could cost his party Congress, the president spent his last major speech before the midterms walking voters through the renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
President Donald Trump spent his last major speech before the midterm elections talking about pipes and paint, Reuters reported Monday. Facing a towering statue of Abraham Lincoln, he ruminated for 54 minutes on the recently reopened Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool — its new bubblers and pipework, the effort to defeat algae, the new sod, the White House helipad, a grand proposed arch — in remarks the White House billed as part of his closing argument before voters cast their ballots on Tuesday. At one point he joked that he would soon rename the pool in his own honor rather than after the 16th president. "I decided to get involved in this, especially over the last few months, and we've done, I think, a really great job," he said, holding up pictures of the landmark and noting that a new paint job "gives you great reflectivity, especially when the sun's out."
The renovation behind the speech cost more than $16 million for the 2,000-foot pool, and its opening was delayed by peeling paint and algae growth that turned the water green; the administration defended contractors hired without competitive bidding and blamed vandalism for some of the problems, although prosecutors backed off claims against a person accused of vandalism and a judge dismissed that case, Reuters reported. Many Republican strategists had privately wanted the president to focus his final pitch squarely on kitchen-table economic issues, but across a nationwide tour of 28 rallies in 19 states since October 1, he has repeatedly delivered lengthy asides on other topics, from a Potomac River golf course to the Kennedy Center.
The political backdrop he was brushing aside is stark. His public approval rating stands at 32%, near a career low, according to the Reuters/Ipsos poll this desk filed earlier Monday; voters say their main concern is the cost of living, and energy prices have risen sharply since the war with Iran began, up 20% over the year prior according to the Consumer Price Index. Nonpartisan analysts generally favor Democrats to win a majority in the House, with the Senate seen as competitive. "For some reason, the sitting president doesn't win the midterms," Trump said. "But we gave this a very strong shot." After the pool, he made brief diversions into campaign substance — attacking Democrats as unfit to serve and saying the United States had won the war with Iran — before closing with other projects, including a proposed triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery and an overhaul of Washington's East Potomac Golf Links.
What Tuesday decides is whether that agenda continues unchecked. Democratic control of Congress would let the opposition open wide-ranging investigations of the president and his cabinet, and Trump's White House and National Mall projects — many pursued without congressional approval and already facing legal challenges — could be ripe for those inquiries, Reuters noted. Florida voters, Miami-Dade's included, cast their share of that verdict starting at 7 a.m.
