Trump previews ballroom construction the day after voters rejected GOP rule

Hours after Republicans suffered heavy losses in the midterm elections, President Donald Trump spent nearly 20 minutes showing reporters the White House ballroom construction site and defending the project, without addressing the results. PBS NewsHour, citing the Associated Press, reports that he called the structure unlike anything seen before, watched crews place what he described as the final beam, and signed it. Taking a few questions, he insisted he would have won had he been on the ballot.

Democrats gained control of Congress, including Senate wins in South Carolina and Kansas, the latter's first Democratic senator since 1932. In Texas, they took a statewide race for the first time in more than three decades. The AP Voter Poll found only about four in 10 voters approved of Trump's performance, and roughly two-thirds said his priorities were wrong. Majorities in four lost Senate contests felt the Republican nominees were too supportive of him.

Trump has shifted blame, naming Ken Paxton's critics John Cornyn and Karl Rove, and saying Greg Abbott lost for straying from conservatism. An AP tally found he urged voters to pretend he was on the ballot at least 40 times. He did not claim widespread fraud this time.

Summarized by PolitiKool from PBS NewsHour’s reporting. Read the full story at PBS NewsHour →