In the early afternoon, after a morning of silence from the administration, the President abruptly called reporters to a ceremony at the White House where crews hoisted what he said was the final steel beam on the new state Ballroom.
The President has spent much of his second term discussing construction projects, including a granite White House helicopter landing pad, a public golf course renovation and a 250-foot arch he plans to build beside the Potomac River.
Just hours before polling stations opened across the US on Monday, President Trump dedicated most of his final television speech to discuss his administration’s renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
Pointing to the new ballroom’s pillars, President Trump told reporters: “They’re being carved out of beautiful limestone and they’ll be Corinthian, Corinthian design, which is considered the creme de la creme.”
During the nearly 20-minute event, the President acknowledged that he had taken flak for spending so much time and energy on prestige projects, but he said the ballroom was needed for the glory of the country.
He told reporters: “I like it. For me, it’s relaxing.”
