Trump marks reopening of Reflecting Pool on eve of midterm elections

President Donald Trump spoke at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington on Monday afternoon, Nov. 2, the day before the midterm elections.¹ ABC7 reported that the speech marked the pool's reopening following repairs.² “The pool is now better and more beautiful than it's ever been before,” he said, according to USA Today.³

Trump joked about renaming the pool after himself. “We'll announce that some time tomorrow,” he said, then added, “Now I'm only kidding. I'm only kidding. Please don't report it,” USA Today reported.³ He also said vandals had damaged the pool, ABC7 reported.²

The election

Trump spoke about his construction projects in Washington for about 20 minutes before turning to the elections, ABC7 reported.² “This is the last day before the midterm elections, the most important midterm I believe in our lifetime,” he said, TRT World reported.⁴

He said Democrats “nominated the most extreme and dangerous slate of candidates in American history,” and he cited border security and income tax cuts, according to ABC7. He also said, “For some reason, the sitting president doesn't win the midterms,” and “But we gave this a very strong shot.”²

The court filings

The Justice Department filed a motion on July 31 in D.C. Superior Court to dismiss an indictment in a vandalism case. The motion said “the damage was the result of a botched installation and not vandalism as initially represented” by the Interior Department, the Anchorage Daily News reported.⁵ A Justice Department filing also said Interior Department components provided “less than fulsome information” about the project, Newsweek reported.⁶ Fox 5 DC reported that a judge dismissed the case.⁷

Each side's position

Trump wrote on Aug. 1, “There may have been some contractor difficulty, but the major damage was caused by VANDALS!” USA Today reported.⁸ He told reporters he wanted to hold Monday's event “just to show how beautiful it is,” and said, “We had it working well, but it was vandalized,” according to CBS News.¹

A National Park Service official said in a June 24 filing in a federal lawsuit over the pool that U.S. Park Police responded to a report of damage, and he described caulk “cut with a sharp knife or razor,” Newsweek reported.⁶ The project's coating contractor said in a June 21 website statement that repair areas were “a very small part” of the 7-acre project and did not indicate a liner failure. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment, the Anchorage Daily News reported.⁵

Cost and status

ABC News reported on June 19, citing federal contract data, that the project was set to cost more than $16 million.⁹ Trump first estimated $1.5 million, USA Today reported.⁸ Refilling began Oct. 12, Fox 5 DC reported. Asked then for updated cost and timeline figures, the Interior Department and National Park Service replied, “We refer you to President Trump's latest comments.”⁷

The Cultural Landscape Foundation sued the Interior Department in federal court in Washington on May 11.¹⁰ The foundation's lawyer told Newsweek that a judge denied its request to inspect the pool on Aug. 4.⁶

What the records do not show

• No White House or Roll Call Factba.se transcript of Monday's remarks was found, and C-SPAN's event page could not be opened. All quotes come through news reports, and it is not known whether Trump named individual candidates or addressed Iran or other topics in the speech.
• The Justice Department motion itself was not opened. Its wording here comes from news reports that quote it.⁵
• The federal suit's docket could not be opened for this story, so its current status is not stated.
• The current total cost was not found; the $16 million figure is as of June 19.⁹
• No Democratic response to the speech was found in the sources opened.