This was originally an excellent place to deliver the final speech during a heated election season. However, on Monday afternoon, when President Trump stepped onto the podium in front of the Reflecting Pool at the Lincoln Memorial, what he was thinking about was something else: rusty pipes.
Trump held up the photo, showing the old facilities beneath the mirrored pool that he had ordered to be replaced. He said, “These pipes are very old and in poor condition. Now, the pipes have been completely renovated, and all have been replaced with brand-new pipes.”
Trump delivered a speech that lasted nearly an hour. Some White House officials had previously portrayed this speech as the final act of a series of campaign activities for the mid-term elections. However, the speech focused on the many construction and renovation projects that Trump would oversee during his second term in office. He discussed projects such as removing graffiti, repairing fountains and monuments, and re-landscaping National Park.
Trump said, "Grasses, like people, have life. The lawns in front of the White House have been of poor quality for many years, but they are now very beautiful."
According to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal on October 2, this speech disappointed Republicans, including some of Trump’s own White House advisors. They expressed their dissatisfaction privately, believing that the president failed to utilize this highly publicized speech on the eve of the election to focus on the economic issues that voters care most about. In recent days, Republican campaign staff have become increasingly worried that their party will suffer a significant defeat in this election, and the atmosphere within the White House has become more somber.
When asked to comment on the speech, a person close to Trump responded with an emoji of “frowning” via text message. A well-known Republican strategist said that the setting for the speech was excellent, but the message conveyed was incorrect. Another Republican campaign staffer stated that if the Republicans lost control of both the House and the Senate on Tuesday, then the algae problem causing trouble in the reflecting pool would be the last thing they need to worry about.
Retiring U.S. Republican Congressman Don Baeckle of Nebraska said, “He was never someone who spoke by strictly adhering to established information.” Baeckle hoped that Trump would highlight more of the Republican Party’s achievements in areas such as tax cuts and border security, but the president only briefly mentioned these topics during his speech. However, Baeckle added that the situation wasn’t entirely bad: “At least he didn’t talk about men’s buttocks.”
After the speech, some of Trump's advisors argued that this speech was not originally scheduled as a final campaign speech. However, when a senior White House official announced the speech to reporters on Sunday, he used exactly such a description, claiming that this would be an opportunity for the president to make his final statement to voters and promote Republican policies.
Trump believes that beautifying Washington will be one of his most important political legacies. He told advisors that these projects could inspire national pride among American citizens. Assistants privately advised him to focus on other issues, but the president generally did not follow these suggestions, as he believed this issue could resonate with voters. Polls show that most Americans disapprove of his construction projects, including the plan to build a new White House banquet hall. However, most Republicans are positive about these plans.
US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said at an event on Monday: “The President is a builder. You can’t keep him away from these projects.”
Trump was originally expected to travel across the country on Monday, attending at least two campaign rallies and delivering speeches. This is part of a month-long campaign by the Republican Party, aimed at encouraging conservative voters to turn out to vote. However, according to people familiar with the matter, Trump decided instead to participate in a series of online campaign events and deliver a speech at the Lincoln Memorial. He had been hoping to hold this event there over the past few weeks.
Trump said at the beginning of his speech, “We are seriously considering renaming it to ‘Trump Mirror Pool’.” He then clarified that he was just joking.
This scene became the latest highlight of this extraordinary election. Trump wore a white baseball cap with the word “USA” printed on it and delivered a 53-minute speech filled with random and nonsensical remarks, in front of an audience consisting of a few employees from the National Park Service and media journalists.
Trump stood next to a large photo of the reflecting pool, which read: "Reopened, more beautiful than ever!" He repeated some of the phrases commonly used at campaign rallies, but there was no enthusiastic applause like usually accompanies such speeches. Instead, the area was quite quiet most of the time. For safety reasons, the walkways around the reflecting pool were closed.
He spent only a small portion of his speech discussing elections, criticizing Democratic candidates as radicals, and promoting the tax cuts that he signed into law.
Earlier this year, Trump ordered the renovation of this historic reflecting pool, stating that he could complete the project at a faster pace and with lower costs than others. However, due to the large amount of green algae in the pool, the planned reopening before the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States was postponed.
Trump also accused the vandals of cutting through the newly laid bottom lining of the pool. The lining was painted in what he called “American flag blue”. However, the accusations were later dismissed, and the contractor admitted there were mistakes during the construction process.
When Trump was promoting the new coating laid at the bottom of the reflecting pool, he asked, "Did anyone give me those photos?" An assistant then brought a stack of photos to the podium. As Trump held up the photos, he explained, "These are the pipes." He added, "That's a completely destroyed new lawn."
Trump believes that this renovation project is part of a larger plan to restore America's international status.
At the end of his speech, Trump said, "Over the past four years, the whole world has mocked us. They mocked us as if we were a bunch of stupid people. Every ruler, every president, every prime minister, every king, every queen, all mocked us. But now, they can't laugh anymore."
A Reuters/IPP poll conducted on Monday showed that 46% of registered voters said they would vote for the Democrats in the congressional elections, while 38% said they would vote for the Republicans.
The number of people voting in advance has reached a record. As of Monday afternoon, the number of ballots cast through on-site or mail voting had reached 57 million, which is higher than the total of 45 million ballots cast during the mid-term elections in 2022.
