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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump signaled Sunday that he’ll make his closing pitch of the midterm elections at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, pushing his slow, expensive and problem-plagued efforts to repair it back into the spotlight as Election Day looms.
In comments to reporters as he deplaned from Air Force One for a rally in Iowa, Trump said his speaking at the site would “show how beautiful it is.”
“We might hold it tomorrow or something,” Trump added, without giving specifics. But in a post on his social media site before landing, Trump said that his Sunday evening rally in Kansas — which follows his stop in Iowa — “Will be my last stop.”
That would further suggest that, rather than using Monday to travel to key states and try to energize his “Make America Great Again” supporters as his Republican Party tries to maintain control of Congress, Trump would opt for an event at a Washington renovation project that has been embarrassing and contentious.
The unusual move would be a departure from Trump’s month-long race to stage more than 25 rallies in largely conservative areas, hoping the GOP can overcome his own low approval ratings and polls predicting that the Iran war, high energy prices and cost of living increases could spell a strong election night for Democrats.
Trump spent a lot of time at those rallies talking about his second-term focus on molding the White House and the surrounding nation’s capital in his own image, cramming the Oval Office with gold flourishes, demolishing the East Wing to construct a sprawling ballroom, converting the Rose Garden into a patio space reminiscent of his Mar-a-Lago estate and erecting a sprawling South Lawn helipad.
He also closed the Kennedy Center after failed attempts to add his name to the building, has planned a towering arch just outside the city and is pushing to revamp a century-old public golf course.
Trump has bristled at criticisms from former President Barack Obama and other Democrats that he’s spent too much time focused on construction projects — insisting that renovations relax him and that he does them quickly and without requiring too much planning time.
Trump said the Reflecting Pool fix would be fast and inexpensive
His Reflecting Pool saga began in April when Trump said he wanted to change its color and would use contractors he knew to fix the monument in mere days and for about $1.5 million before Independence Day.
The repairs wrapped up nearly three months behind schedule and the budget ballooned to more than 10 times Trump’s early estimate — and that’s assuming no more additional work will need to be done in the future.
Trump had initially declared the work was complete in June. But after unveiling the overhaul, the pool was soon choked with algae blooms, and its “American-flag blue” liner began peeling off in sections. The pool was quickly drained anew for repairs in mid-July.
Trump has repeatedly blamed vandals, but the office of U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia — former Fox News host and longtime Trump ally Jeanine Pirro — said the problems were caused by shoddy workmanship.
In his comments Sunday, Trump continued to insist that the Reflecting Pool “was vandalized badly.” He said that security cameras have since been added to stop that.
Still, a particularly ignominious moment came when the Justice Department charged former Olympian David Hearn with intentionally damaging the Reflecting Pool — then abruptly dropped the case this summer — determining he was not responsible.
A judge later permanently dismissed it.
That prompted Trump to fume that Pirro “choked,” and that he was “disappointed with Jeanine Pirro, really disappointed. She folded like an umbrella” — though he stopped short of firing her.
Will Weissert, The Associated Press
