Reflecting Pool vs. the state of the economy: Trump and Democrats clash in closing messages

WASHINGTON - As midterm campaigns careened toward their conclusion, Democrats pushed through intraparty divisions Monday to stay focused on voters' economic frustrations, while Republicans cast their opponents as dangerous radicals. President Donald Trump, the GOP's most powerful voice, seemed more interested in his plans for beautifying Washington, D.C.

The dueling closing messages came as the nation's two major parties battled for control of Congress and key governors' offices. The outcome could fundamentally reshape Trump's final two years in the White House - and the level of power that comes with it.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration's request to sideline thousands of disputed California mail ballots, and the president separately raised the prospect of voter fraud in Alaska.


Interest in the election was high: There were more than 57 million ballots already cast in 47 states and D.C. as of Monday, compared to a little under 44.5 million cast early in 49 states and D.C. in 2022.

Overall, Democrats expressed overwhelming optimism about their party's chances Tuesday, thanks largely to Trump's struggle to control rising prices and the war in Iran, which has already spanned eight months. The U.S. military conducted new defensive strikes on some Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz, even though Trump previously said he wouldn't launch strikes on Iran before Tuesday's midterms.

Trump himself acknowledged that the midterm election may not go well for him or his party.

"For some reason, the sitting president doesn't win the midterms, but we gave this a very strong shot," Trump said in remarks at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, where he talked extensively about new grass, rusty pipes and algae. "We have a lot of great things planned for Washington, and I could get into (more about) the nation, but for that you don't have enough time."

The speech at the National Mall marked Trump's final scheduled public speech before Tuesday. The Republican president was also scheduled to participate in nine telerallies for Republican midterm candidates and he appeared on Fox News.

Emboldened Democrats, meanwhile, spent election eve pressing their economic message in places like Iowa, Ohio, Kansas and Texas - red states that have emerged as a central front in the 2026 midterms given Trump's unpopularity. In the Midwest, however, Democrats worked to contain the fallout from a messy intraparty fight a day after Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens stunned her party by endorsing Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed 's Republican opponent, Mike Rogers.

El-Sayed largely ignored the controversy at multiple events Monday, emphasizing instead that his campaign was about voters. Asked what he would tell nervous supporters, El-Sayed had a simple message: "Go vote."

Trump focuses on Washington renovations as voters worry about the economy

Trump, in his final speech before polls open, delivered rambling remarks Monday afternoon at the Reflecting Pool, where he repeated false statements that the project was sabotaged by vandals. The Justice Department has acknowledged in court that the new blue liner he had installed on the pool surface peeled and detached because of a rushed repair job.

He said little about the national economy, which voters say is their chief concern, aside from insisting it was "great."

"Our country is doing great. I think it's the greatest we've ever done," Trump declared. "We had a great first term in terms of the economy. We had the best term ever. We had the most successful economy."

Only 17% of U.S. adults approve of the Republican president's handling of the cost of living, according to a recent poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Just 26% approved of Trump's handling of the economy overall in the poll, marking a new low.

The president spent the majority of his remarks focused on the Reflecting Pool renovation, reflecting on the challenge of removing algae and installing new grass, among other things. He also promoted new Washington-area construction projects, including a golf course and a "promenade" that would let people walk from the Lincoln Memorial to the Potomac River.

"It's a great architectural concept, simple and beautiful and white stone," Trump said.

Tuesday's elections were largely an afterthought in the president's remarks. He did, however, briefly portray his political rivals as extremists, claiming that Democrats had "nominated the most extreme and dangerous slate of candidates in American history."

The president's message in the midterms' closing days was similarly detached from voters' concerns about the high cost of living. He's called affordability a "hoax" along with repeatedly praising the physiques of the GOP's nominees.

Vice President JD Vance stuck closer to the party message while campaigning Monday in Rome, New York. He touted Trump's moves to end taxes on tips and overtime and secure the border while branding Democrats as "lunatics" who have contempt for American voters.

Democrats compete in Republican strongholds

Democratic candidates were working to capitalize on widespread disaffection over high prices, the fallout from Trump's war with Iran and historical trends that typically favor the party out of power in midterm elections.

Indeed, facing major political headwinds, Republicans are playing defense in multiple states Trump carried by double digits just two years ago.

In places like Texas, where voters have not elected a Democratic senator since 1988, Democrat James Talarico received a rock star's welcome at a packed outdoor amphitheater as he railed against the influence of pro-Trump billionaires like Elon Musk, who has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to shape the midterms.

Talarico quoted scripture during his remarks after blaming "corrupt tariffs" for rising grocery prices and "a new corrupt war in the Middle East" for higher gas and diesel prices.

At roughly the same time elsewhere in the state, Republican Ken Paxton sidestepped voters' economic concerns and instead attacked his Democratic opponent in cultural terms.

"James Talarico is a vegan who hates meat," Paxton charged, before falsely calling Talarico a democratic socialist "just like New York Mayor Mamdani."

Paxton acknowledged the difficult political environment Republicans are facing: "Texas has never been this close to slipping away."

Democrats were also on offense in Iowa, a state Trump carried by almost 14 percentage points just two years ago. Democrat Rob Sand called on volunteers knocking on doors to help him become the first Democratic governor elected in two decades.

"This is it," said Sand, who faces Republican Zach Lahn. "We have 30-whatever hours to change the direction of the state of Iowa."

Later in the day, Republican Senate candidate Ashley Hinson and her family braved heavy rain to rally voters. She warned that Iowa values "are on the ballot tomorrow."

"Grab an umbrella," Hinson said for those voting Tuesday. "At least it's not a blizzard."

In Michigan, Democrats deal with fallout from a dramatic split

Democrats in Michigan - a key state in their efforts to try to retake the Senate - were trying to keep their coalition together after a shock Sunday when Stevens announced she would back the GOP candidate instead of her party's nominee.

Stevens did not attend Rogers' rally Monday night in Michigan, but she got a long ovation from the crowd as the Republican Senate hopeful spoke about her endorsement. Attendees chanted, "Haley! Haley! Haley!"

"You know courage when you see it," Rogers said of Stevens.

Stevens is a staunch supporter of Israel, while El-Sayed is a fierce critic of the U.S. ally. He has also been criticized for past remarks regarding a Michigan synagogue attack and for appearances with controversial streamer Hasan Piker.

El-Sayed sought to ignore the controversy, focusing instead on Trump's policies and the state of the economy. He also mocked Trump, who referred to El-Sayed as "a jihadist" earlier in the day.

"My name and my faith are not the reason you can't afford your gas. They're not the reason you can't afford your groceries, not the reason you can't see a doctor," El-Sayed told a crowd in Detroit. "It is their policies that are doing that. It is their war in Iran, the illegal, unjustifiable, unethical, immoral war that we have no business fighting."

"I don't really quite care that he knows how to say my name," he continued, "because after tomorrow, he can just go on and call me senator."