President Trump’s closing argument ahead of Tuesday’s midterm elections focused largely on his efforts to beautify Washington, including with major construction projects like the renovations to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and a municipal golf course.
“This is the last day before the midterm elections — the most important midterm, I believe, in our lifetime,” Trump said in a speech at the Reflecting Pool on Monday. “The Democrat Party has nominated the most extreme and dangerous slate of candidates in American history. These are the most dangerous candidates ever put up.”
But despite the stated importance of the upcoming election, Trump spent much of his speech walking listeners through his pet projects.
“We’re booming like we’ve never boomed before,” he said. “We’ve cleaned hundreds of sites of graffiti, fixed over 2,300 lighting fixtures in Washington, D.C., cleaned and renovated over 83 statues and fountains and monuments, removed hundreds of squalid homeless encampments.”
Trump said Sunday he planned his final speech ahead of the midterms at the Reflecting Pool “Just to show how beautiful it is. It’s been finished. It was vandalized badly. We have cameras all over the place now for the vandals.”
The pool closed in July after additional renovations to its bottom coating were needed. Around that time, Trump accused vandals of “destroying” the pool. The U.S. attorney’s office in Washington charged former Olympic canoeist David Hearn and several others with destruction of property. However, the case against Hearn was later dropped.
Trump announced the official reopening of the reflecting pool on Monday and said, “We are giving serious thought to changing the name to the Trump reflecting pool. We’ll announce that sometime tomorrow.”
He mentioned several other construction projects he has underway, including the White House ballroom, a White House helipad, a major overhaul of the municipal East Potomac Golf Links, and the construction of a triumphal arch in D.C.’s Memorial Circle. Each of the projects has faced legal challenges; Virginia and D.C. officials sued to stop the construction of the arch, while the DC Preservation League and two golfers have challenged the president’s plans for the East Potomac course.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation filed a lawsuit over the White House ballroom project, arguing Trump did not have unilateral authority to proceed with construction.
Trump also acknowledged that his party faces an uphill battle this year, saying while Republicans “gave this a very strong shot” that historically the president’s party “doesn’t win the midterms.”
The president’s speech on Monday came one day after he wrapped up a 28-stop tour through the U.S. to get out the vote.
In addition to his remarks from D.C. on Monday, Trump was scheduled to participate in several tele-rallies.