In First Speech After Midterm Loss, Trump's 'Magnificent' Ballroom Monologue

The day after voters took Congress away from his party, Donald Trump invited reporters to look around a building site. His first public appearance after the election results was a tour of his White House ballroom. He turned to the vote only when a reporter asked him about it.Speaking on Wednesday afternoon at the construction site of his White House ballroom, the president spent more than 41 straight minutes on the project and his other building plans. He spoke into a handheld microphone, in front of a panel signed by construction workers, at an event to sign a beam. He went through ceiling heights, Corinthian columns and floor plans."If I put the kitchen on top, you would lose three walls," he said.US President Donald Trump stands on the day the final steel beam goes into the ballroom, at the White House in Washington, DC, US, November 4, 2026.Photo Credit: ReutersREAD | Did Iran War Cause His Party's Midterms Defeat? "Largely True," Says TrumpThe owner of the quarry did not want to sell, Trump said, but "he liked me". The limestone columns will go up "next week" and match those at the Supreme Court, he said, with Italian marble used for the finishes.Then he moved on to what he said fascinated him most, a state-of-the-art bunker "five stories underneath" the ballroom, which he called "the safest place in Washington." The military had asked whether it was possible to dig under such a fragile structure, he said, and his team did everything they asked.Photo Credit: AFPHe pointed out the new helipad on the White House lawn, and spoke about other "beautification" projects around Washington. "We're upgrading trash island," he said, referring to a golf course on the Potomac that he is redesigning.To the workers, he said the project was ahead of schedule and on budget. "The whole thing is a miracle, and it's all because of you," he said.While he talked about marble, the election results showed seven Senate seats flipped and 229 House seats won by Democrats, with more victories expected. That is 11 more than the 218 needed for a House majority. Before the vote, Republicans held 218 House seats and 53 Senate seats.He Has Done This BeforeHis last remarks before the election had a similar feel. On Monday, standing in front of the newly reopened Reflecting Pool, he said, "for some reason," the sitting president "doesn't win the midterms." He said his side had given it a very strong shot.For most of the rest of that speech, he talked about the "brand-new pipes" and the algae. A poster board beside him read "Back, and more beautiful than ever!" He held up photographs of what looked like a rusty drainpipe and a dumpster full of debris.He Spoke About Midterm Loss, BrieflyA reporter asked about a social media post by Vice President JD Vance, who said Republicans lost so badly because of the war in Iran. "Well, I think it's largely true," Trump said. If he could go back, though, he said he would not do it differently.Photo Credit: AFPPointing around him, he said it was important that Iran never gets nuclear weapons, which he gave as the reason he went to war. If Iran got one, he said, much of what could be seen around him might not exist, except perhaps the room he was standing in.The war began in late February with US-Israeli strikes. Democratic candidates have blamed Trump, and the war he started, for the economic hardship that has left many voters frustrated.Asked if he had regrets about how he ended the campaign, Trump said no. "You couldn't transfer that love" from his rallies onto candidates, he said.On the new Democratic Congress, he said, "I'll get along probably with the Democrats unless they want to be destructive," adding that he had "the power to veto."Then he stopped taking questions. "Watch the beam go up," he said, and walked to another part of the site. He pointed at the ceiling and said, "Now envision chandeliers."READ | Iran Says Handed Trump "Political Defeat" In Washington After Midterms RoutAfter several minutes of watching the beam being lifted to the ceiling, Trump returned to taking questions.He was asked if he knew Vance was going to publish the lengthy, critical post that came out that morning. "I know how he feels about it, I think it was fine," Trump said, calling the post "good." He said he had spoken to Vance but did not say much more.He also said he could not predict who would run for president in 2028. "Maybe he won't run; I don't know who's going to run," he said.