Tuesday's midterm elections will determine control of the House and Senate, with Republicans facing a steep climb to retain their congressional majorities.
A federal review found that a $16.4 million polymer liner installed to stop leaks and water seepage at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool had been poorly installed by the contractor, rather than damaged by vandals.
President Donald Trump stood beside the Reflecting Pool on Monday afternoon, using poster boards on an easel that showed an aerial image captioned, “Back, and more beautiful than ever!” The pool had been fenced off for months during the problem-plagued renovation he ordered.
In his final scheduled in-person speech before Tuesday's Election Day, Trump opened with a long account of his work on the pool and other sites in Washington. “Today I'm thrilled to announce the official opening of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool,” he said.
The liner peeled up almost immediately after it was installed. Trump attacked Pirro over the admission about the project and has continued to say vandals were responsible.
Trump said the finished pool was superior to its previous condition. “The pool is now better and more beautiful than it's ever been before, and we're very proud of it,” he said. He also described its earlier state in harsher terms: “This is a massive piece of pool. It was treated with a lot of love. And then it was treated with a lot of hate, and we've got to stop the hate. I mean, they've had years here where you couldn't see any water. It was just algae. And it had a bad aroma, to put it mildly. A lot of bad things happened.”
For more than 20 minutes, his remarks remained largely on the Reflecting Pool, refurbishments to other monuments in the Washington area and his administration's efforts to crack down on crime in the nation's capital. He also spoke of a proposed massive triumphal arch in Washington and a promenade along the Potomac River.
Trump said the government planned a “National Garden of American Heroes” containing “250 to 500 great American heroes in statue form.”
His first direct mention of the midterms came around the 23-minute mark. “As you know, this is the last day before the midterm elections, the most important midterm, I believe, in our lifetime,” Trump said.
He attacked Democratic candidates, including Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed. “The Democrat Party has nominated the most extreme and dangerous slate of candidates in American history,” Trump said.
Trump again promised that a Republican victory would mean “everybody is going to get $5,000.” He acknowledged the historical difficulty facing an incumbent president's party, saying: “For some reason, the sitting president doesn't win the midterms. But we gave this a very strong shot.”
Even after turning to the election, Trump periodically returned to his Washington building plans. The speech lasted nearly an hour.
Trump had cancelled planned rallies in Kansas and Iowa over the weekend.
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