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President Donald Trump said Monday that Iran wants to make a deal and that one “could happen,” using a speech at the newly repaired Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to make his closing pitch the day before the midterm elections.
“They want to make a deal, and that could happen,” Trump said, adding that oil prices had fallen by ten dollars in a single day, which he called the biggest one-day drop in history. He said prices would “go down a lot further, because we’re winning with Iran. We’re easily winning.” The figures were Trump’s own claims, and the material available does not independently confirm them.
Trump spent Monday in Washington rather than traveling to battleground states to energize supporters as Republicans try to keep control of Congress.
The choice departs from a month-long run of more than 25 rallies, mostly in largely conservative areas. He ended that stretch Sunday evening in Kansas, which he described on his social media site as “my last stop,” after an earlier rally in Iowa.
Speaking to reporters as he got off Air Force One in Iowa, Trump said appearing at the Reflecting Pool would “show how beautiful it is.” He added that “we might hold it tomorrow or something,” without giving details. The White House formally announced the Monday afternoon speech hours later.
Trump is campaigning against low approval ratings. Polls have pointed to a strong night for Democrats, driven by the war with Iran, high energy prices and rising living costs.
Midterm elections, held halfway through a president’s four-year term, decide control of Congress and are often treated as a referendum on the sitting president.
The Reflecting Pool saga began in April, when Trump said he wanted to change the pool’s color and would use contractors he knew to finish the job in days, for about $1.5 million, before Independence Day.
The repairs wrapped up nearly three months behind schedule, and the cost grew to more than 10 times his early estimate. That figure assumes no further work will be needed.
Trump declared the work complete in June. The pool then developed algae blooms, and its “American-flag blue” liner began peeling in sections. It was drained again in mid-July for repairs.
Trump has repeatedly blamed vandals, and on Sunday he insisted the pool “was vandalized badly” and said security cameras have since been added.
The office of Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia and a longtime Trump ally, said shoddy workmanship caused the problems.
The Justice Department charged former Olympian David Hearn with intentionally damaging the pool, then abruptly dropped the case this summer after determining he was not responsible. A judge later permanently dismissed it. Trump said Pirro “choked,” that he was “disappointed with Jeanine Pirro, really disappointed. She folded like an umbrella,” but he stopped short of firing her.
Trump has made reshaping the White House and the capital a focus of his second term.
He has added gold flourishes to the Oval Office, demolished the East Wing to build a ballroom, converted the Rose Garden into a patio and built a South Lawn helipad.
He also closed the Kennedy Center after failed attempts to add his name to it, has planned an arch outside the city and is pushing to revamp a century-old public golf course.
He has brushed off criticism from former President Barack Obama and other Democrats that he spends too much time on construction, saying renovations relax him and that he does them quickly.
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