Election week in Trumpland: algae, space proclamations and a deflection of blame

Donald Trump’s unrelenting focus on the ‘beautification of Washington’ and Fox News ratings did not stop the Democrats’ decisive midterm election wins

• This was originally published in This Week in Trumpland. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday.

Standing at the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool on Monday afternoon, Donald Trump zeroed in on his closing message of the high-stakes midterm elections: it can take a long time to get rid of filth.

Less than 24 hours before Americans headed to the polls, the US president staged a bizarre press conference in which he touted his troubled $14m renovation of the Washington DC landmark and blamed his predecessors for the algae that once bloomed in its water.