President Donald Trump opened his last scheduled in-person speech before Tuesday's midterm elections by spending more than 20 minutes on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and other Washington projects, leaving his pitch to voters for later.
The Monday afternoon address, which ran nearly an hour, had been expected to serve as his closing argument before millions of Americans vote to decide which party controls the House and Senate in the next Congress.
Reopening the Reflecting Pool
Standing in front of the pool, Trump announced its official opening. The water feature had been fenced off for months during a troubled renovation that he ordered.
The pool is now better and more beautiful than it's ever been before, and we're very proud of it,
Donald Trump, president
He again blamed vandals for damaging the pool and delaying repairs, a claim without support. Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, told a court on July 31 that a contractor's botched installation caused the damage. Trump attacked Pirro over that admission and has kept blaming vandals.
The midterm pitch
Trump did not explicitly mention the midterms until roughly 23 minutes in. He called this year's contest the most important midterm of his lifetime and said Democrats had nominated the most extreme and dangerous slate of candidates in American history.
He promoted his administration's record and singled out Democratic candidates by name, among them Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed. He also repeated his disputed promise that everyone would receive $5,000 if Republicans win.
As in other recent remarks, Trump appeared to concede that Democrats hold an edge, at least by historical measure. The president's party has tended to underperform in midterm elections.
For some reason, the sitting president doesn't win the midterms. But we gave this a very strong shot,
Donald Trump, president
Arches, statues and a golf course
Later in the speech he returned to the pool and laid out other plans for the capital: a massive triumphal arch, a promenade along the Potomac River and a National Garden of American Heroes featuring 250 to 500 statues. He also discussed renovating a public golf course in Washington that faces legal challenges.
