Trump post-midterm speech at White House ballroom construction site, Digi Mart USA News (Washington, D.C.): In the view of the publisher, President Donald Trump’s Wednesday morning visit to the White House construction site for his ballroom was among his most detached public appearances in recent months. The visit took place hours after Democrats won control of both houses of Congress in the midterm elections, a result the publisher describes as a collapse for the Republican Party.
Rather than address voters who had turned against him, Trump used his first post-election appearance to speak for nearly 20 minutes about the ballroom project. Standing in the White House’s former East Wing, he showed reporters the progress of the construction and described the planned columns, the kitchen and a roof “that could actually hold helicopters.”
As workers hoisted the final beam and a large Stars and Stripes flag, Trump described construction as relaxing and said he signed his name on the beam. According to the publisher, The AP Voter Poll found that some two-thirds of voters say Trump does not have the right priorities.
Asked about the election, Trump said, “If I was on the ballot we would have won,” and blamed losing candidates for failing to benefit from his popularity. He also agreed with Vice President JD Vance, who had posted on X that “the reason we lost is the war,” but then attributed the problem to rising gasoline prices, which the publisher reports reached record levels on election day, more than eight months after the conflict with Iran began.
When asked whether Democrats might seek to impeach him when they take control of Congress in January, Trump said it would destroy the Democratic Party. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a possible 2028 presidential contender, said the elections were an “extinction-level event for Republicans across the country” and predicted the party might not regain full control of Congress until 2032.
Trump also warned reporters to “mind the beam” as a crane lifted a large steel piece into position atop the ballroom.
