By MICHELLE L. PRICE and SEUNG MIN KIM, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — As Republicans and Democrats were making their final pitch to voters on the eve of Election Day, President Donald Trump opted to forgo the campaign trail and instead focused on his renovations at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, drawing attention to an expensive, problem-plagued repair job in a place far away from most of the people his party wants to persuade.
It was an unusual closing argument for Republicans to keep control of Congress. But it conforms with the way the president has devoted considerable time, attention and money in his second term on beautifying his Washington surroundings.
Trump, wearing a white “USA” hat, even seemed to admit that he had spent much of his time focused on improving the capital city.
“We have a lot of great things planned for Washington, and I could get into the nation, but for that, you don’t have enough time,” Trump said.
Instead of focusing on issues voters have said they’re worried about, Trump dedicated a large portion of his remarks to his D.C. makeover and the pool, announcing its official re-opening, joking that he wanted to name it after himself, and repeating his false claims that the repair work he ordered was vandalized.
After he finished his remarks on Monday, Trump’s stood silently while triumphant music played and he held up a poster with an image of the previously algae-clogged pool. It was his last public appearance before Election Day.
Democrats, for their part, were spending the last 24 hours before Election Day making their case in areas where Republicans have long dominated, while trying to contain the fallout from a messy intraparty split in Michigan. Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed was brushing aside concerns that his prospects could be hurt after his former primary opponent threw her support behind his Republican opponent Mike Rogers.
In addition to giving the speech on Monday afternoon, Trump also was scheduled to participate in nine telerallies for Republicans, where he uses brief remarks on a mass phone call to plead for voters’ support.
Vice President JD Vance, meanwhile, hit the campaign trail with more traditional stops in New York and Ohio, where Republicans were fighting for House and Senate seats.
Trump touts renovations as voters worry about the economy
The Reflecting Pool, a long, narrow basin at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial, is one of Washington’s most iconic sites. Martin Luther King, Jr. famously gave his “I Have a Dream” speech from the steps of the memorial in 1963, looking out over the pool.
But this summer it became a focus of Trump’s attention, with the president frequently speaking about his plans for the shallow pool 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.
The pool was soon clogged with algae blooms, and its “American-flag blue” 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.
But the president continues to repeat false claims that vandalism — rather than shoddy workmanship — was to blame for a new blue surface peeling away.
On the platform where he spoke Monday, signs were hanging that said “Restoring Our Capitol” and “The Reflecting Pool.” A poster perched on a display board showed the reflecting pool under the words, “Back, and more beautiful than ever!”
He waxed on about the particular color blue he selected to have the bottom of the pool painted, the kinds of grass and types of columns he had selected for repairs around Washington, and held up a series of blown-up images of rusted pipes taken during the renovation process.
He then started repeating some of his midterm elections pitch, defending his record and attacking Democratic nominees, before eventually turning back to the pool.
The president’s message in the closing days of the midterm campaign was similarly detached from voters’ concerns about the high cost of living. He’s called affordability a “hoax” while boasting to audiences far from the nation’s capital about his renovations of the reflecting pool and the White House, along with repeatedly praising the physiques of the GOP’s nominees.
Vance stuck closer to the party message as he campaigned Monday in Rome, New York. As he campaigned for Republican House candidates Kailee Buller and Anthony Constantino, he touted Trump’s moves to end taxes on tips and overtime and secure the border while branding Democrats as “lunatics” who have contempt for American voters.
Democrats try to flip Republican-favored seats while grappling with fractures
Democratic candidates were working to capitalize on widespread disaffection over high prices, the fallout from Trump’s war with Iran and historical trends that typically favor the party out of power in midterm elections.
In places like Iowa, where voters have not elected a Democratic governor in two decades, Democrat Rob Sand was asking canvassers knocking on doors to help break that streak.
“This is it,” said Sand, who faces Republican Zach Lahn. “We have 30-whatever hours to change the direction of the state of Iowa.”
He was appearing with Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, seen as a potential 2028 presidential candidate, who cited his own races as proof that a Democrat can win over Trump-backed candidates in states like his own and Iowa.
In Michigan, Democrats deal with fallout from a dramatic split
Democrats in Michigan — a key state in their efforts to try to retake the Senate — were trying to keep their coalition together after a shock on Sunday when Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens announced she would back the GOP candidate instead of her party’s nominee, appearing at a church service with Mike Rogers.
Stevens — who lost in the primary to Abdul El-Sayed — is a staunch supporter of Israel, while El-Sayed is a fierce critic of the U.S. ally. He has also been criticized for past remarks regarding a Michigan synagogue attack and for appearances with controversial streamer Hasan Piker.
El-Sayed, who campaigned on Monday with fellow Michigan Democrat Debbie Dingell and Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, told supporters worried that Stevens’ endorsement could hurt him that “If we’re nervous about where we’re going to go from here, go vote.”
Associated Press writer Hannah Fingerhut in Ankeny, Iowa, Mike Householder in Ypsilanti, Michigan and Mike Catalini and Moriah Balingit in Washington contributed to this report.