President Trump spent much of his final pre-election speech detailing renovation to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
In his final message to voters ahead to the pivotal midterm elections, President Donald Trump touted renovations to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool without uttering a word about housing affordability. Still, the White House says he remains squarely focused on the issue.
"President Trump has been laser-focused on making housing more affordable," White House spokesman Davis Ingle told Realtor.com® in a statement.
Ingle noted that Trump in his second term had signed an executive order prohibiting large Wall Street firms from purchasing single-family homes, directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to purchase $200 billion in mortgage bonds that helped drive rates to four-year lows, and "cut unnecessary red tape at a historic pace to boost supply, speed construction, and lower costs."
"The President will not stop fighting until the American Dream of homeownership is within reach for every American, which is why he continues to sign bold new executive orders and calls on Congress to pass further legislation," he said.
During his speech on Monday evening by the reflecting pool in the heart of Washington, DC, Trump spoke at length and in exhaustive detail about the extensive repairs to leaky pipes, surface coating, and cracked granite.
"This is a massive piece of pool," Trump told an audience of several dozen people gathered for the unveiling of the refurbished monument, which has been one of his signature projects since the opening months of his second term.
President Donald Trump, right, and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, left, talked about Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovations on the eve of the midterm elections. (Bloomberg via Getty Images) Trump reiterated claims that the pool had been vandalized by "sick" saboteurs. However, federal prosecutors and the U.S. Attorney's Office for DC previously acknowledged in court filings that the damage to the pool lining that accompanied massive algae blooms was the product of shoddy installation by contractors rushing to complete the job before the 250th Independence Day festivities.
Beyond his breakdown of the pool makeover, which is projected to cost taxpayers about $16 million, Trump touted his record in his second White House term, claiming that his administration had reduced crime in DC by "close to 90%," carried out sweeping beautification projects, and cleared out homeless encampments.
It was not until 23 minutes into his address that Trump finally mentioned the looming midterm election, which will determine control of Congress and could shape the final two years of his time in the White House.
"This is the last day before the midterm elections, the most important midterm, I believe in our lifetime," said the president.
The stakes could hardly be higher: control of the U.S. Senate and House, dozens of governorships, crucial ballot measures on housing, and the legislative direction of the second half of Trump's term.
Final preelection polling showed Democrats holding a meaningful advantage in the generic congressional ballot and leading in several key Senate battlegrounds, including Michigan, Texas, and Maine, driven by widespread voter frustration with the surging costs of fuel, groceries, and housing.
While Trump did not bring up affordability in his remarks, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, who joined him at the event in DC, briefly touched upon the subject, arguing that Trump's policies have paved the way to "food security, more grazing for our country, more timber production for affordable homes, and more oil and gas to drive the price and affordability of energy down in our country."
Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum argued that Trump's policies have improved affordability. (Bloomberg via Getty Images) This fall, average 30-year mortgage rates surged back past the 7% mark, propelled by surging oil prices linked to the president's ongoing war in Iran, severely eroding homebuyers' purchasing power.
The broader cost-of-living squeeze has not gone unnoticed by the electorate across the political spectrum, prompting Trump to hit the campaign trail in traditional Republican strongholds like Texas and South Carolina to shore up support for vulnerable GOP candidates.
Yet in his concluding remarks on the eve of the election, the president struck an uncharacteristically fatalistic tone and appeared resigned to a potential "blue wave."
"Usually whoever the sitting president is—Republican or Democrat, good or bad, good president, great president, bad—for some reason, the sitting president doesn’t win the midterms," he said. "But we gave this a very strong shot."