President Donald Trump ended the midterm campaign Monday by acknowledging that the party holding the White House usually loses these elections, telling a crowd at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool that Republicans had given the race a strong try.
He framed the vote as perhaps the most consequential midterm of his lifetime and argued turnout would decide it. If even a good share of his past voters returned to the polls, he said, Republicans would win in a landslide.
This is the last day before the midterm elections — the most important midterm, I believe, in our lifetime,
Donald Trump, president
In a later appearance on Fox News, Trump urged supporters to treat the election as if his own name were on the ballot, warning that a Republican defeat could wipe out his legislative accomplishments.
I'm just asking everybody to pretend that I'm on the ballot,
Donald Trump, president
A closing message about a pool
Although the White House had promoted the event beforehand as his closing argument, Trump devoted most of his remarks to the Reflecting Pool itself, announcing that it would reopen after months of repairs. He spoke beside a poster declaring the site back and more beautiful than ever.
The pool has been shut since July, when its bottom coating peeled and algae turned the water green, and the National Park Service recently pushed its reopening date to Nov. 20. Trump also promoted a White House ballroom, a helipad, a new golf course and a triumphal arch, and appeared to joke that the pool might carry his name.
On the economy, he claimed personal incomes and the poverty rate were at record levels in his favor. He called the Democratic slate the most extreme in American history and made the false claim that some of its candidates were jihadists or belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Alaska, Iran and the campaign trail
In a telerally for Alaska Republicans, Trump attacked Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola over a published report that operatives tied to her campaign recruited a man sharing the name of Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan to run. Trump called it voter fraud and said she should be removed from the ballot; Peltola and national Democrats have denied the allegations.
He also branded Alaska's ranked-choice voting system a scam.
Asked after the speech whether he might strike Iran again once the election was over, Trump answered no. Separately, three U.S. officials said the military had carried out limited defensive strikes against Iranian targets near the Strait of Hormuz on the eve of Election Day.
Trump wrapped up a 28-rally tour on Sunday with stops in Kansas and Iowa, both home to competitive Senate contests. He traveled on 25 days in the campaign's final month and visited 19 states, but spent the last day in Washington rather than holding in-person rallies in three states as he did in 2018.
Early Tuesday, he escalated attacks on Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, claiming on Truth Social that El-Sayed hates Jewish, Black and white people. El-Sayed faces Republican Mike Rogers in a race that could help decide control of the Senate.
