President Donald Trump’s party is staring down an election that could knock them out of the majority in Congress and impede his platform for the rest of his presidency. His closing message was about renovations.
The president gathered reporters on Monday in front of the Lincoln Memorial and ticked off all the changes he’s made to Washington in his 20 months in office.
“We’re booming like we’ve never boomed before,” Trump 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.”
Poll after poll has shown voters are concerned about affordability and the economy — frustrations that could upend the political power balance in Washington. Instead of talking about bringing down prices, the president’s final public remarks preelection focused on his accomplishments at beautifying Washington, D.C., including a $16 million Reflecting Pool project that’s been plagued with issues.
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Trump, surrounded by a glass case for protection, was flanked by two photos of the reflecting pool, the “before” one with algae and the other showing the renovated pool. “Back, and more beautiful than ever!” it read.
After about 23 minutes, he finally discussed the election, which he called the “most important midterm, I believe, in our lifetime.”
“With your vote, we will decide. These extremists will be given power or not power,” he said.
He defended the Iran war, which has led to increased prices in the U.S.
“I hope people realize that when they go into the voting booth because we had to stop Iran from having a nuclear weapon. If we allowed Iran to have a nuclear weapon, this country could never function in the same way,” Trump said.
Trump has spent nearly every day the last few weeks on the trail, working to invigorate the base to get to the polls as strategists fear low turnout for Republicans. For the final day, though, he remained in Washington to deliver a closing message and then appear in tele-rallies.
Speaking after Trump, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the president wanted to speak in front of the Reflecting Pool out of respect for history.
“President Trump said, ‘I want to go and be on the steps. I want to stand in front of the Reflecting Pool’ … to deliver the message that his administration, under his leadership, cares about how our country is viewed, to the world.”
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