Nov. 4,
2026, 3:21 p.m. ETNov. 4, 2026
Reporting
from Washington
A
day after a stinging midterm defeat, Trump focuses on his ballroom.
Video
President
Trump answered questions on Wednesday from reporters about the election
results. He also commented on Vice President JD Vance’s lengthy social media
post that largely blamed the Republican losses on the war in
Iran.CreditCredit...Doug Mills/The New York Times
As his
party reeled from a resounding defeat in the midterm elections, President Trump
made an impromptu appearance on Wednesday at the White House, where he defended
two of what he considers to be legacy-defining projects: his ballroom and the
war in Iran.
Mr.
Trump’s appearance at the ballroom’s construction site — his first comments to
reporters since the American electorate delivered a sharp rebuke of his party
and policies — was a ceremony to celebrate the raising of the final steel beam
atop the structure. He delivered extensive remarks detailing the progress of
the project before adding his signature to the beam. He never mentioned the
results of the midterms.
“This is
a special structure,” he said. “It’s going to be not only one of the biggest,
but it’ll be the most beautiful ballroom, I think, anywhere in the world.”
The
beam-signing ceremony was the latest in a series of striking examples of the
disconnect between Mr. Trump’s priorities and those of the American electorate.
On Monday, the eve of the election, Mr. Trump gave a speech from the Lincoln
Memorial Reflecting Pool, where he spent nearly an hour detailing
renovations he had ordered at sites around Washington rather than offer a
closing argument to voters concerned
by his handling of the economy and the war with Iran.
“You
know, it was sort of mentioned a little bit during the campaign: ‘Why does
Trump spend time on the White House?’” he said of his extensive renovations.
“Well, first of all, it’s very little time. Second of all, I like it. It’s
good. For me, it’s relaxing.”
After
adding his signature to the giant steel beam and watching workers lift it into
place on Wednesday, Mr. Trump addressed questions from reporters about the
election results. He said that Vice President JD Vance’s assessment that
Republicans had
lost the election because of the war in Iran was “largely true” because the
conflict had driven up gas prices, but said that he would make the same
decision again.
“The Iran
thing, we had to do,” he said, “and we continue to do it.”
Mr. Trump
said that he looked forward to working with the Democratic-controlled Congress
that was just elected, unless the Democrats sought to be “destructive,” in
which case he would exercise his veto powers.
Asked if
he was worried at all about a possible impeachment, Mr. Trump said, “No, not
even a little bit.”
Later in
the day, the president took to social media to complain that the Senate had not
passed a legislative
effort to make daylight saving time permanent, which would have ended the
semiannual time change that shortens winter days, and that the clock change
back to standard time had moved the sunset in Washington, D.C., today to 5:06
p.m.
“It’s so
dark outside,” President Trump wrote.
Chris
Cameron contributed.
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário