{"id":822240,"date":"2026-11-03T00:34:12","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T00:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/822240\/"},"modified":"2026-11-03T00:34:12","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T00:34:12","slug":"trump-unveils-results-of-14m-reflecting-pool-makeover-in-final-appeal-before-midterms-donald-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/822240\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump unveils results of $14m reflecting pool makeover in final appeal before midterms | Donald Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump unveiled<\/a> the delayed results of his $14m renovation of Washington DC\u2019s Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool<\/a> in what is expected to be his final press conference before voters head to the polls for the midterm elections.<\/p>\n

On the eve of a consequential election day, with polls indicating that most voters feel the US president has grown too focused on building projects in the nation\u2019s capital, he stood in front of the newly opened reflecting pool to discuss \u2013 in detail \u2013 changes to the pool\u2019s pipe, the grass surrounding the area and granite.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis project should be a project that unites all Americans,\u201d Trump told reporters on Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n

It has proven anything but. After Trump\u2019s first revealed<\/a> his \u201cbeautiful\u201d makeover of the reflecting pool in June, a massive algae bloom turned it green (instead of the promised \u201cAmerican flag blue\u201d) and the coating started to peel away.<\/p>\n

Trump alleged that vandals were to blame, although his administration failed to produce evidence to substantiate such claims. While former Olympic canoeist David Hearn was initially charged over alleged damage, the office of the US attorney Jeanine Pirro later dropped the case, infuriating the president.<\/p>\n

Hearn\u2019s attorneys said the case\u2019s dismissal \u201cdoes not erase the abuse of government power in arresting and charging a patriotic American who did nothing wrong\u201d.<\/p>\n

On Monday, Trump accused his Democratic predecessors, Joe Biden and Barack Obama, of overspending on previous renovations to the reflecting pool and once again, without evidence, accused vandals of purposefully damaging the Trump administration\u2019s renovations.<\/a><\/p>\n

Roughly 20 minutes into his remarks on the reflecting pool, less than 24 hours before Americans head to the polls, Trump pivoted to acknowledge Tuesday\u2019s midterm elections, which he declared to be crucial.<\/p>\n

The party of a sitting president often loses seats during the midterms, he noted. \u201cWe gave this a very strong shot,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n

For weeks, polls have shown Democratic candidates are narrowly ahead of Republican candidates in key races \u2013 that includes competitive Senate races in Texas, Alaska, Kansas, Iowa and Maine.<\/p>\n

Voters have expressed dissatisfaction with Trump\u2019s handling of his job<\/a> as president, particularly over the US economy and cost of living.<\/p>\n

The prices of gas and groceries have risen since the beginning of the year, and inflation has remained stubbornly high \u2013 largely the result of the war with Iran that Trump started at the end of February.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Donald Trump unveiled the delayed results of his $14m renovation of Washington DC\u2019s Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":822241,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-822240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=822240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/822241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=822240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=822240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=822240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}