Trump’s Go-To After a Historic Election Defeat? His Golden Ballroom.

President Donald J Trump signs a girder for the new White House ballroom during an address to construction workers on November, 4, 2026, the day after his party suffered several major election upsets.Annabelle Gordon/Pool/CNP/Zuma Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily. After his party’s historically humiliating midterm defeat, President Donald Trump’s first public move was to show off his ballroom. “This is a special structure. 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,” Trump told reporters while congratulating construction workers at the White House site on Wednesday afternoon. “We’re putting up the last piece of steel. I thought it would be appropriate to have the media here.” He addressed the election only when reporters asked, with the construction as his requested backdrop. Perhaps he’d worn himself out the night before, firing off social media tirades blaming everyone but himself. Asked whether he regretted how he’d campaigned for Republicans, including a closing argument on the eve of the election that was all about algae, Trump said no. “If I were on the ballot, we would have won.” When asked about Vice President JD Vance saying the reason Republicans lost last night was the war in Iran, Trump admitted that it’s “largely true” because it “drove the gasoline [prices] up a little bit—short term” but then repeated the old, tired talking point, apparently not learning any lessons: “If I had to do it again, I’d have to do it again because long term, it’s the only answer. You can’t let Iran have a nuclear war.”