{"id":13192,"date":"2026-11-02T23:25:29","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T23:25:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=13192"},"modified":"2026-11-02T23:25:29","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T23:25:29","slug":"far-from-the-campaign-trail-trump-promotes-his-reflecting-pool-makeover-before-election-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=13192","title":{"rendered":"Far from the campaign trail, Trump promotes his Reflecting Pool makeover before Election Day"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>6 Minute, 0 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>


\n<\/p>\n

\n
\"U.S.<\/picture>
\n

U.S. President Donald Trump walks from the podium after speaking at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Nov. 2, in Washington. AP-Yonhap<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. President Donald Trump stood silently Monday while triumphant music played as he held up a poster showing an image of the algae-clogged pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial.<\/p>\n

It was the final moment of his last big speech before Election Day, far away from the campaign trail where Republicans were trying to make their case to voters to hang onto control of Congress.<\/p>\n

The president’s decision to spend the day before the pivotal midterms showing off his renovations in the nation’s capital instead of barnstorming around the country was a puzzling way to pitch America on keeping his party in power.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt starts just with the setting being bizarre and being very self-focused,\u201d said Doug Heye, a Republican strategist. \u201cAnd then you had the pictures and the posters on the easels and all of that \u2014 none of which help a single undecided voter in the last day of the elections move to the Republican Party.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heye, a former communications director at the Republican National Committee, said Trump\u2019s Reflecting Pool speech was the \u201clast thing\u201d Republican candidates needed and added, \u201cMaybe it doesn\u2019t register, but it sure doesn\u2019t help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump, wearing a white \u201cUSA\u201d hat and standing in front of the Reflecting Pool in Washington he renovated twice this year, appeared to be more focused on the cosmetic upgrades he undertook in the nation\u2019s capital than other achievements in his second term or the issues voters have said they\u2019re concerned about, like high prices.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot of great things planned for Washington, and I could get into the nation, but for that, you don\u2019t have enough time,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n

Trump went on tangents about rusty pipes, grass and paint colors<\/strong><\/p>\n

The president repeated his false statements that the work at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was bedeviled by vandals, even though the Justice Department has acknowledged in court that the new blue liner he had installed on the pool peeled and detached because of a rushed repair job.<\/p>\n

With a poster next to him showing the pool from above and the words \u201cBack, and more beautiful than ever!\u201d Trump detailed the work on the site, along with his efforts to beautify the rest of Washington. He explained why \u201cAmerican flag blue\u201d was the right shade of blue to get \u201cgreat reflectivity.\u201d<\/p>\n

He mentioned the word grass about 20 times: Bermuda grass, new grass, old grass, beautiful grass, \u201cinferior grass,\u201d grass that was vandalized, grass that was growing in the cracks of the president\u2019s helipad — also recently replaced — the fact that grass is \u201clike a human being” and “has a life,\u201d grass that was donated and installed \u201cwith love\u201d near the White House and things that look like grass but are not grass.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not grass, that\u2019s algae,\u201d Trump said, holding up a photo of the reflecting pool when its water turned a sickly color of green.<\/p>\n

He did a show-and-tell, holding up about half a dozen pictures from the renovations, hoisting images of rusted pipes from the pool\u2019s plumbing system and the construction process.<\/p>\n

The president didn\u2019t explain his decision to make his public appearance Monday centered around his renovations, which only seemed to draw attention to an expensive, problem-plagued repair job. It followed a weekend in which he canceled his plans to hold rallies in Kansas and Iowa, suggesting he did not need to go in person to shore up candidates and could instead promote GOP contenders in brief telerallies. He then reversed course, rescheduling both for Sunday.<\/p>\n

He was also scheduled Monday to hold nine telerallies, where he speaks for about 10 minutes on mass phone calls to supporters.<\/p>\n

Jennifer Mercieca, a communications professor at Texas A&M University, said Trump\u2019s speech seemed focused less on influencing voters in Tuesday\u2019s midterm contest than on cementing, somewhat literally, his legacy long-term.<\/p>\n

\u201cI doubt that the parents who felt like they couldn\u2019t afford to buy Halloween candy this year will be impressed with Trump\u2019s DC renovation projects, but perhaps Trump is speaking to history more than he is to the current moment,\u201d Mercieca, who watched clips of the speech, said in an email.<\/p>\n

More beautification projects are underway<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Reflecting Pool, a long, narrow basin at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial, is one of Washington\u2019s most iconic sites. Martin Luther King Jr. famously gave his \u201cI Have a Dream\u201d speech from the steps of the memorial in 1963, looking out over the pool.<\/p>\n

But this summer it became a focus of Trump\u2019s attention, with the president frequently speaking about his plans on social media, at the White House and beyond. He displayed posters about the project in the Oval Office and even had his motorcade drive him over the resurfaced pool before it was refilled.<\/p>\n

After initial renovations, the pool was soon clogged with algae blooms , and its \u201cAmerican-flag blue\u201d liner began peeling and floating up in chunks. The Justice Department charged former Olympian David Hearn with intentionally damaging the Reflecting Pool but then dropped the case this summer after determining he was not responsible.<\/p>\n

Trump said he isn’t stopping at the pool. He talked about his plans for building a massive triumphal arch, which he has started claiming will also become a \u201cmilitary complex.\u201d He likened it to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, but said his version will have \u201ctremendous drone capability\u201d and \u201csniper or shooter capability.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also explained his renovations for a public golf course in Washington and his plans for a \u201c National Garden of American Heroes, \u201d which is supposed to include sculptures of 250 prominent Americans. Trump said he is looking at lists of names for statues of historic figures who would appear, and suggested it could double in size and feature 500 statues.<\/p>\n

About the midterms: \u2018We gave this a very strong shot\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

After he spent more than 20 minutes focused on his construction projects, Trump pivoted to the elections and said they could be the most important midterms \u201cin our lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n

The president tried to portray his political rivals as extremists, claiming that Democrats had \u201cnominated the most extreme and dangerous slate of candidates in American history.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Democrats have seen their chances of winning control of the House and Senate improve because of public frustration over Trump\u2019s inability to bring down inflation and his decision to launch the Iran war \u2014 which he defended in his Monday remarks.<\/p>\n

Trump said oil prices are going down and said, \u201cI hope people realize that when they go into the voting booth, because we had to stop Iran from having a nuclear weapon.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also cautioned that sitting presidents usually struggle in the midterm elections and said his administration has given the U.S. its most secure borders and the largest income tax cuts in the nation\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor some reason, the sitting president doesn\u2019t win the midterms,\u201d Trump said. \u201cBut we gave this a very strong shot.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n\n

\n
\n \n
\n \n \"Happy\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Happy <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n \n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Sad\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Sad <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Excited\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Excited <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Sleepy\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Sleepy <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n \n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Angry\"\n <\/a>\n
Angry<\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Surprise\"\n <\/a>\n
Surprise<\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U.S. President Donald Trump walks from the podium after speaking at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Nov. 2, in Washington. AP-Yonhap WASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. President Donald Trump stood silently Monday while triumphant music played as he held up a poster showing an image of the algae-clogged pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial. It was…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13193,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_templately_pack_id":"","_templately_imported_at":"","_templately_source":"","_templately_import_session_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-korea","category-trending-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t