On the last afternoon before Americans vote on whether his party keeps control of Congress, President Donald Trump stood in front of the Lincoln Memorial and talked, at length and in considerable detail, about plumbing.
asserted
Trump → vote → plumbing
The 80-year-old president, whose remarks had been billed as a closing argument intended to remind voters off why they should be casting ballots for his preferred candidates on Tuesday, instead turned in a meandering address of roughly 50 minutes that swung from the quality of the pool's new coating to the renaming of bodies of water, the conquest of Venezuela, and a slate of Democratic candidates he described as "communist jihadists."
asserted
he → bill → jihadists
After opening with what he said was a joking suggestion of renaming the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool after himself, the president called in a seemingly bewildered aide to hold up a series of photographs depicting corroded pipework and old joints which he blamed on prior administration’s mismanagement of the century-old water feature.
“This was the joints that were here that we took out."
asserted
we → open → that
He lingered on algae, on the "American flag blue" of the resurfaced basin, on the granite that he said has "a million-year life," and on the 330,000 square feet of coating installed to protect it.
asserted
he → linger → it
As journalists and other invited guests watched, he droned on in a hoarse monotone and repeated the made-up claims about non-existent vandalism that he’d fabricated months earlier after a prior attempt at renovating the pool failed spectacularly.
uncertain
attempt → invite → pool
And for good measure he repeated a discredited allegation at the heart of one of the criminal cases against ex-FBI director James Comey, who federal prosecutors have accused of threatening Trump by posting a picture of the phrase “86 47” to his Instagram account.
asserted
prosecutors → repeat → account
It was not until he’d been speaking for nearly 24 minutes that he turned to the midterm elections, calling tomorrow’s balloting “the most important midterm, I believe, in our lifetime” and warning against electing Democrats, describing those running in opposition to him as "the most extreme and dangerous slate of candidates in American history” and singling out Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed with an baseless accusation that his candidacy meant that the Democratic ticket includes “jihadists and Muslim Brotherhood members.”
asserted
ticket → speak → jihadists
Trump continued to go after the Wolverine State Democrat, a former public health official and ex-Rhodes Scholar, with a baseless claim that the Michigan native had referred to the United States as “the House of Satan.”
uncertain
native → continue → Satan
The somnolent soliloquy went on to include more vivid descriptions of renovations and refurbishment of memorials and monuments around Washington as well as baseless boasts, including claims that Trump’s administration had created "$25 trillion in wealth" and that "$22.5 trillion is being invested in the United States right now" — figures he has regularly inflated in recent weeks and which do not correspond to any government metric of either investment or national wealth.
uncertain
which → go → investment
The whole spectacle drew a mixture of scorn, ridicule and disbelief from Democratic circles, with one campaign operative calling it an “absolute train wreck” and rhetorically asking: “How did we lose to this guy twice?”
asserted
we → draw → guy
Former Obama-era National Security Council spokesperson turned Crooked Media podcast host Tommy Vietor described the scene in a post on X, writing: “I can’t believe he is actually making his closing argument speech about the reflecting pool renovations.”
asserted
he → turn → renovations
“This is a bad resistance lib joke come to life,” he added.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin also weighed in on a statement just after Trump wrapped his remarks, writing that Democrats stood “ready to lower costs, root out corruption, end the chaos, and hold Trump and his rubber-stamp Republicans accountable.”
“For the last two years, working families, farmers, and small business owners have been forced to dip into their savings or take on debt just to afford gas, groceries, and healthcare, while Donald Trump dedicates his focus — and taxpayer dollars — to his vanity projects and special favors for the ultra-rich,” Martin said.
asserted
Martin → come → rich
Now, the bill is coming due: Americans are sick of paying the price for the Republican agenda while Trump, JD Vance, and Republicans turn their backs on them.”
Trump’s low-energy attempt at a closing argument to voters seemed to ignore his current status as one of the least popular presidents in modern times at this point in a four-year term.
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attempt → come → term
A CNN/SSRS poll conducted October 15-18 put his approval at 32 percent, a record low for his presidency, with Democrats leading the generic congressional ballot 49 percent to 39.
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Democrats → conduct → 39
Reuters/Ipsos had him at 31 percent in mid-October and 32 percent in a survey released a week ago, with Democrats ahead by double digits in both.
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Democrats → have → both
Corruption has also surged as a voting issue in the campaign's closing weeks, with multiple surveys finding it at or near the top of voters' concerns and a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll finding about two-thirds of Americans believe Trump is using the presidency to enrich himself.
asserted
Trump → surge → himself
Polling averages put him around 37 percent approval and Democrats up roughly eight points on the generic ballot — numbers that, if they hold, point toward Republican losses in the House and a difficult map in the Senate.
asserted
they → put → Senate
His appearance at the Lincoln Memorial capped a month of campaigning that saw him deliver his signature MAGA rallies to smaller, less enthusiastic crowds in reliably Republican states where his party’s candidates are nonetheless in danger of losing to Democratic opponents — an outcome that would have been unthinkable a month ago.
asserted
that → cap → opponents
While people close to the president have expressed faith in his ability to motivate low-propensity supporters and lift neighboring media markets with his appearances, polling shows even his most fervent partisans are showing signs of flagging enthusiasm amid a cost-of-living crisis that he has not only failed to address but has exacerbated through his tariff policies and his decision to launch an unprovoked war against Iran.
asserted
he → express → Iran
Weighted down by his failure to address the inflation that drove his 2024 win against Kamala Harris, GOP candidates in once-safe states such as Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska and Alaska could be on the losing side when votes are counted on Tuesday night.
uncertain
votes → weight → night
The Aporia
