Trump Holds Closing Midterm Event at Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool Day Before Election

President Donald Trump was scheduled to deliver his closing midterm campaign message at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington on Monday, the day before Election Day. He is set to speak at 2 p.m. ET and take part in nine tele-rallies during the day, after in-person stops in Iowa and Kansas on Sunday. Trump told reporters he wanted to hold the event there "just to show how beautiful it is." He has campaigned in more than 20 states, with 30 in-person political appearances since August, including more than 27 rallies in October, as Republicans try to keep control of Congress. The administration announced plans in April to resurface the pool and paint it "American flag blue" at Trump's request. Water later turned green, and chunks of peeling paint were spotted. Trump claimed, without evidence, that the pool was vandalized. Five people were arrested, but the Justice Department later said in a court filing that a contractor's "botched installation" was to blame. Charges against Olympian David Hearn were dropped.

Left-leaning CBS News leads with the venue and its troubled renovation. It sets Trump's remarks that the pool is "finished" and was vandalized against the green water, the peeling paint, the arrests, the Justice Department's filing and the denied watchdog request from Hearn. It also notes that Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton's campaign will no longer hold an event on the eve of the election. Right-leaning Fox News frames the event as the "grand finale" of a campaign blitz. It gives schedule and rally counts, quotes adviser Alex Bruesewitz on the logistics of moving a sitting president, and features supporters at Texas rallies talking about costs. The excerpt provided does not mention the pool's problems. Both sides agree on the time, place and timing before Tuesday's election. They differ on whether the setting or the campaign effort is the main story. Alternative source AP is closer to the left, calling the pitch "problem-plagued" and describing the repairs as slow and expensive.