Trump Touts DC Renovations in Final Push to Voters on Midterm Election Eve - Newsweek

President Donald Trump used his final public appearance before Election Day to tout renovations in Washington.

Speaking Monday at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Trump devoted more than 20 minutes at the beginning of his remarks to the newly reopened landmark, discussing the blue color selected for the pool, landscaping and D.C. renovations.

Trump joked about naming the Reflecting Pool for himself and displayed enlarged photos of rusted pipes uncovered during renovation work.

"We're giving serious thought to changing the name to the Trump Reflecting Pool," Trump said, before adding: "Just kidding."

He continued: “It was a work of art that never worked, but now it will work."

The Reflecting Pool has drawn Trump’s attention for months, but the renovation has encountered problems and rising costs. After the pool was resurfaced with an “American-flag blue” liner, algae appeared and portions of the liner began peeling. The Justice Department later charged former Olympian David Hearn with intentionally damaging the pool but dropped the case after determining he was not responsible.

Trump has continued to blame vandalism for the damage, and last month, the president said it would be protected by anti-vandalism cameras.

"We went through a lot with vandalism. The vandalism was unprecedented," Trump said Monday.

The appearance came as Republicans fight to retain control of Congress and voters prepare to cast their ballots Tuesday. Trump was also scheduled to participate in nine tele rallies for Republican candidates, while Vice President JD Vance campaigned in New York and Ohio.

Republican pollster Brent Buchanan told Newsweek that Republicans were being hurt by a failure to remain focused on voters’ cost-of-living concerns.

“Voters are punishing Republicans because they, mainly Trump, have not been laser-focused on cost-of-living concerns,” Buchanan wrote in an email. “Voters, especially those who have shifted hardest against Republicans since 2024, are thinking about it every day, and they want elected officials who are thinking and talking about it as much as them.”

He added: “Focusing on beautifying Washington, D.C., a place most voters despise, and wish would fall into a sink hole, is not showing voters you are concerned about what they're concerned about.”

“The Republicans who do well tomorrow will be those who were empathetic and relatable,” Buchanan said.

The substance of the president's final speech before the midterm elections also puzzled some observers on social media.

Jonah Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Dispatch, a center-right publication, joked on X: "I take it back. THIS is the greatest closing argument ever."

Sarah Matthews, who worked as a deputy press secretary in the first Trump administration, also chided the speech. "No one: Absolutely no one: Trump, 24 hours before the midterms: THE REFLECTING POOL WAS BEING TREATED WORSE THAN ANY POOL IN HISTORY," she wrote on X.

Newsweek has reached out to the White House via email on Monday afternoon for comment.

All 435 voting seats in the House of Representatives and 35 Senate seats are being contested in the elections on November 3. The results will determine control of the next Congress, whose term begins on January 3, 2027.

Democrats are strongly favored to win the House of Representatives but have a narrower path in the Senate. The minority party is seeking to capitalize on voter frustration over high consumer prices and the fallout from Trump’s war with Iran.

Democratic strategist Eddie Vale criticized Trump’s focus on renovations, arguing that voters were more concerned about the cost of living.

“People can't afford gas, food, or rent while Trump is spending his time and focus on tacky redecorating,” Vale told Newsweek via email. “He may not have turned the pool blue but he did help create a coming blue wave.”

DNC Chair Ken Martin seized on Trump’s renovation-focused appearance to criticize the president’s handling of affordability.

“Americans are sick of paying the price for the Republican agenda while Trump, JD Vance, and Republicans turn their backs on them,” Martin said in a statement shared with Newsweek, adding that Democrats were “ready to lower costs.”

Trump acknowledged that the historical challenges facing a president’s party in midterm elections while saying that his administration had delivered record border security and income tax cuts.

The Reflecting Pool speech followed a monthlong campaign blitz in which Trump made 28 stops in 19 states since October 1.

“For some reason, the sitting president doesn’t win the midterms,” Trump said. “But we gave this a very strong shot.”

Trump highlighted Monday’s “plunge” in oil prices and said he hoped voters would weigh the development at the ballot box.

The decline came amid renewed diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the nine-month U.S.-Iran war. Elevated gasoline prices have added to cost-of-living concerns hanging over the midterm elections. Brent crude fell about 7.5 percent on Monday to around $104.98 a barrel but remained well above the roughly $70 level seen in the days before the war.

“I hope people realize that when they go into the voting booth, because we had to stop Iran from having a nuclear weapon,” Trump said, remarking on the oil prices. “If we allowed Iran to have a nuclear weapon, this country could never function the same way.”

Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Samantha Beech and Dave Siminoff.