Trump signs final steel beam for White House ballroom after GOP losses

President Donald Trump spent nearly 20 minutes on Wednesday describing the structural details of a new White House ballroom. He did this while standing at the construction site where the East Wing was demolished. During this time, he did not mention that Republicans lost control of Congress.

The president summoned reporters to the site to watch the final steel beam being hoisted into place. He signed the beam with a marker, writing "Love!" followed by his name in large letters. A small evergreen tree, symbolizing growth and luck, was attached to the top of the beam.

This sequence of events occurred one day after midterm elections. In those elections, Democrats won seats in some of the country's deepest Republican strongholds, including Texas and South Carolina. Voters cited high living costs and federal corruption as key reasons for their choices. The Associated Press Voter Poll found that about two-thirds of voters believed Trump did not have the right priorities. The overwhelming majority of these voters supported Democratic House candidates.

Presidents typically address the press the day after midterms. Those whose parties suffer major losses usually acknowledge at least part of the responsibility. Trump's schedule showed only private meetings before he decided to invite the press to the ballroom site. He used the visit to discuss the project's features, including a kitchen that will be located three walls down from the main floor.

Trump described the ballroom as a structure unlike any other. He said it would be the safest place in Washington upon completion. The building stretches five stories underground. He highlighted a specific marble vein that he said people have sought for 50 years. He explained that placing the kitchen on top would require removing three walls because a kitchen takes up about 30% of the space.

The president took questions from reporters at the site. He insisted he did not lead the party into a defeat despite holding rallies where he told supporters to act as if he were on the ballot. He said the crowds at those rallies were enthusiastic but that the party was unable to transfer that energy to the candidates. He noted that he was not on the ballot and therefore did not consider the outcome a personal defeat.

An Associated Press analysis of 39 speeches and rallies held between Sept. 1 and Election Day found that Trump used phrasing suggesting he was a candidate in 30 of them. In some addresses, he repeated this theme multiple times, creating at least 40 instances of this appeal. He told Fox News Channel that voters simply did not like the candidates who were actually on the ballot.

This approach contrasts with how previous presidents described their party's losses. Barack Obama called the 2010 midterms a shellacking. George W. Bush described the 2006 midterms as a thumping. Trump, however, has a history of passing the buck. In 2018, he blamed defeated members of his own party for their losses. He specifically criticized Rep. Mia Love and other lawmakers who did not embrace him closely enough.

Trump began laying the groundwork for this response before voting started. He told Punchbowl News in August that voters were angry at Republicans but not at him. Last month, he posted on his social media site that if Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton lost, it would be due to weak political hacks like John Cornyn and Karl Rove. He made this claim despite endorsing Paxton over the incumbent Cornyn in the primary. Paxton lost Tuesday. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a longtime ally, also lost. Trump posted that Abbott would not have lost if he had not become a Republican in name only in the last six months.