President Trump’s deep unpopularity is dragging down Republicans around the country. His personal intervention in Texas’s primary has made the GOP’s Senate majority significantly more difficult to defend. Some wonder if he even cares about Republicans winning the midterm elections at all.

The president didn’t exactly allay those concerns on Monday, a day before polls close. As his X account rolled out pro forma endorsements of various Republicans, the real Trump was laser-focused on the one thing that really animates him right now: Washington renovations. During a roughly 20-minute address in front of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Trump took a rhetorical victory lap for restoring the beleaguered body of water, even though his administration first bungled the job in extremely high-profile fashion over the last few months. Holding up oversize posters and backed by visual aids, the president went into granular detail about the landmark, which is no longer glaringly empty.

Trump went to the National Mall today to talk about algae pic.twitter.com/t66XPl9c4X— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) November 2, 2026

Trump went to the National Mall today to talk about algae pic.twitter.com/t66XPl9c4X

He marveled at the new water’s hue:

Trump, the day before the midterms, is using his speech at the reflecting pool to discuss that project at some length. "It's sort of a soft, dark blue, they call it -- gives you great reflectivity," he says of the color. He's also holding up photos of........

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