The day after a midterm drubbing, Trump turns to his safe space: the ballroom

A day after Republicans lost control of Congress and took heavy losses in races across the country, President Donald Trump gave his first public remarks of the post-election period, and he used them mostly to show off construction on his White House ballroom. MS NOW commentator Steve Benen argues the appearance confirmed long-standing complaints that Trump puts personal pursuits ahead of his party and the nation.

Benen notes that Bill Clinton in 1994, George W. Bush in 2006 and Barack Obama in 2010 each faced reporters after midterm defeats and conceded the voters' judgment. White House journalists were told early Wednesday that Trump wished to speak, which suggested he might follow suit. Instead, the event ran nearly 45 minutes and centered on the ballroom's steel framing, the marble he wanted, and the chandeliers on their way.

Trump also praised the look of the Reflecting Pool and asked reporters whether they had seen the helipad from above. Of the ballroom, he said it would be the most beautiful anywhere in the world. Benen concludes that Trump appeared to have lost interest in the job, and that the day's display bolstered the criticisms leveled at him before the elections.

Summarized by PolitiKool from MS NOW’s reporting. Read the full story at MS NOW →