Trump Makes Midterm Closing Pitch at Reopened Reflecting Pool

President Donald Trump used the eve of the midterm elections to deliver what the White House billed as his closing message to voters, speaking Monday afternoon in front of the newly reopened Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, according to Axios, the Associated Press and The Independent.

“As you know, this is the last day before the midterm elections, the most important midterm I believe in our lifetime,” Trump said, according to The Independent’s live coverage. “The Democrat Party has nominated the most extreme and dangerous slate of candidates in American history.” Fox News aired that warning in a clip it posted on X shortly after the remarks.

"The Democrat Party has nominated the most extreme and dangerous slate of candidates in American history."

President Donald Trump delivers a final warning just one day before the midterm elections, taking aim at Democratic candidates and what he describes as their "radical… pic.twitter.com/XFg0Bo94F4

— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 2, 2026

A White House official told Axios before the event that the 2 p.m. Eastern address would highlight the accomplishments of the administration and congressional Republicans, along with the president’s push to restore the nation’s capital.

“Back, and more beautiful than ever”

Trump opened with a joke. “Now we’re giving serious thought to changing the name to the Trump Reflecting Pool,” he said, according to The Independent, before adding, “No, I’m only kidding.”

The stage itself carried the message. ABC News and the AP reported that the lectern stood in front of the pool with the Washington Monument in the distance, beside a sign showing an aerial image of the pool and the words “Back, and more beautiful than ever!” Trump said Sunday in Iowa that the project was “finished” and that he was going to the site “just to show how beautiful it is,” according to ABC News.

The president spent a large part of the speech on the pool’s history. “President Obama and President Biden together spent over $144 million trying to figure it out and fix it, renovate it, and it was closed almost during the entire time,” Trump said, according to The Independent, which reported that he accused the prior administrations of using “very defective material.” The Independent noted Trump also conceded that some of the leaking took place “long before Biden and Obama.”

Critics have hammered the renovation. The Washington Post reported that the speech came about six months after the administration began work that quickly ran into problems, and The Independent reported the site was largely sealed off this summer after the new coating peeled and algae turned the water green. Trump again blamed vandalism on Monday, according to The Independent, although Axios reported that the case against former Olympic canoeist David Hearn was permanently dismissed after prosecutors acknowledged faulty installation caused the damage.

D.C. crime and the stakes Tuesday

Trump also touted the federal effort to police the capital. “We are making D.C. safe and beautiful again,” he said, according to The Independent, adding that the National Guard and law enforcement partners “have made over 16,000 arrests, including over 3,000 narcotics arrests,” and that “crime is down.”

The AP described the setting as an unusual choice for a closing argument, noting the president skipped a final campaign-trail stop with control of Congress on the line. ABC News reported that the White House scheduled seven more tele-rallies for the afternoon and evening.

The stakes are already visible at the ballot box. The Independent reported that more than 50 million Americans have voted early, outpacing the early turnout pace of 2022. Polls open nationwide Tuesday morning.

Sources

• Fox News on X
• The Independent, live coverage, November 2, 2026
• Associated Press
• Axios
• ABC News via ABC7
• The Washington Post

Reporting by Daily Beltway.