Donald Trump Hypes White House Ballroom After GOP Midterm Wipeout - Newsweek

President Donald Trump touted construction of his massive White House ballroom on Wednesday, hours after Republicans suffered a sweeping midterm defeat that cost the party control of both chambers of Congress.

Trump discussed the ballroom progress and raised the final construction beam on the ballroom during his first public appearance following Tuesday’s elections. Meanwhile, Democrats celebrated victories across the country and prepared to take control on Capitol Hill.

Trump had no public events initially scheduled Wednesday, but summoned reporters for a last-minute appearance at the White House. After 20 minutes of remarks and before taking questions from reporters, he watched as the final beam was put into place for the ballroom project after he signed it.

“I just want to thank everybody for being here. This has been a structure the likes of which has never been seen anywhere,” Trump said at the building site.

Trump added his signature Wednesday to what a contractor described as the final steel beam.

Standing before the large white beam, already covered with dozens of signatures in red and black ink, Trump signed his name in black marker between two gold seals and wrote “Love!” above it.

“Everybody in the room signed it,” Trump told reporters beforehand. “All of the workers, not just the steel workers, the plumbers, electricians, the painters, everybody signed it. And I’m going to be the last to sign it.”

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum also signed the beam after Trump.

After signing the ballroom’s final beam, the president paused to admire the project and again raised the prospect of using its roof for drones.

“You can land anything on top of that roof,” Trump said. “But it will be all drones.”

Trump has cited the potential for the U.S. military to use the ballroom roof as a drone port as part of his justification for the project. Experts have questioned the practicality of operating attack drones from the site. The U.S. Secret Service already operates a drone port from a nearby White House rooftop for security surveillance.

The project has itself become a source of political and legal controversy. The Supreme Court allowed construction to continue after an August 31 ruling, while making clear that it had not decided whether the project was lawful. Chief Justice John Roberts, dissented, and said the construction was “likely unlawful.”

The ballroom project has been estimated at $400 million, with the administration previously saying construction would continue into 2028.

His continued focus on the ballroom comes after midterm voters expressed broad dissatisfaction with the president’s priorities.

About two-thirds of voters said Trump does not have the right priorities, according to the AP Voter Poll, with an overwhelming majority of those voters backing Democratic House candidates.

Trump addressed the Republican losses while taking questions, insisting, “If I were on the ballot I would have won.” He suggested the enthusiasm he saw at his midterm rallies did not carry over to other Republicans, saying “we weren’t able to transfer love to the candidates.”

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