President Donald Trump will deliver his final midterm message at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool at 2 p.m. ET on Monday, a White House official told Axios. The venue has stayed largely fenced off since a troubled restoration.
The official described the speech as Trump's "closing message before the Midterms." It will promote the record of his administration and congressional Republicans. It will also cover work in the capital. The official called that effort "restoring our Great Capital."
Trump's Election Eve schedule also includes nine tele-rallies, The Independent reported, after he dropped in-person events in Kansas and Iowa last week and turned to broadcasts instead.
The venue carries its own political baggage. A $14 million renovation left an "American flag blue" coating peeling off the pool floor, with fragments seen floating in the water, and algae turned the basin green during the summer, according to The Independent. Forbes reported that the National Park Service said last month the pool would remain closed to visitors until November 20 while restoration work continues.
Trump had blamed vandals for the damage. In July he criticized his own Justice Department for dropping charges against David Hearn, a former Olympic canoeist. The case was later dismissed permanently after prosecutors accepted that faulty installation caused the damage, Axios reported.
Local coverage of the announcement, in a video published by FOX 5 Washington DC, noted that the president would speak at the pool despite its closure.
More than 50 million Americans have already cast ballots, outpacing the early turnout rate of 2022, The Independent reported.
Deadline reported that the closing argument may struggle for attention against the fight inside the Democratic Party in Michigan. Representative Haley Stevens endorsed Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers over her own party's nominee, Abdul El-Sayed. She then spent a CNN interview with Anderson Cooper on Sunday night defending the decision.
Representative Debbie Dingell, a Michigan Democrat, told Cooper afterwards that it was "one of the most painful interviews I have ever watched," Deadline reported.
Trump's remarks are set for 2 p.m. ET at the western end of the National Mall. Election Day follows on Tuesday.