Trump promotes reflecting-pool renovation while control of Congress hangs in the balance
On election day Trump highlighted his plan for the Washington reflecting pool while polls project Democrats may capture both the House and Senate.
Millions of voters across the United States are casting ballots today in midterm contests that polls suggest could allow the opposition to seize control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Faced with the prospect that Democrats could shape the final two years of his presidency — by blocking controversial initiatives, launching probes of his allies or even pursuing impeachment — President Donald Trump spent his final public appearances and social media posts on election day promoting his plan to renovate the reflecting pool in Washington, D.C.
Inside Republican ranks, many privately worry that emphasizing an unpopular infrastructure project will do little to shift voters whose top concerns are fuel prices, the rising cost of living and the broader state of the economy. Democrats, meanwhile, describe their mood as cautiously optimistic.
Policy priorities vs. political messaging
After casting her ballot in New York, Gladys Sotomayor said she voted because of economic worries: "Immigration, the cost of living. For the first time I actually watch how much I spend and I am really worried about the direction our country is headed with the current president, the House and the Senate. In fact, that is one of the main reasons I voted today, to elect the congressman I supported in the primaries," she said.
Recent polls indicate Trump has lost ground among key demographic and national groups, boosting Democratic hopes that they can capture enough of the 35 Senate seats up this cycle and win majorities in all 435 House seats to take control of both chambers of Congress.
Engineer David Berkovich, after voting, framed his motivation in broader terms: "I think the best phrase I noticed about this is that it is not about left or right, but from the top down, and I really think that is the case. The greatest danger the country faces is the growing gap between the very rich and everyone else," he said. In previous cycles, Trump outperformed polls in his successful presidential bids in 2016 and 2024 and fell short in 2020.
Photo: press material from the event
