Trump Cut His Final Michigan Stop for the Reflecting Pool Speech and Nine Tele-Rallies
The president had planned a Monday rally in Michigan — the state where he ended his 2016, 2020 and 2024 campaigns — and instead closed with an hour at the Reflecting Pool and nine phone rallies in close House contests, the New York Post reported.
President Donald Trump planned to visit Michigan on Monday for a final rally before the midterm elections, but chose instead to make an unconventional speech at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and then host nine tele-rallies in close congressional contests, the New York Post reported in a story read in full by the desk this cycle. Trump ended his own 2016, 2020 and 2024 presidential campaigns in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Although he did not close out the 2018 or 2022 midterms there, he had planned to stop by the Wolverine State on Monday, a White House official told the Post last month.
Instead of giving a final in-person push for Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers over Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, Trump hosted an hourlong event at the Reflecting Pool, where El-Sayed was the only candidate he bashed by name, calling him a "jihadist" running against "apple pie." "The entire calendar was done in pencil, and especially late in the month," a second senior White House official told the Post on Monday. "And for today, and some yesterday, the schedule moved around to include telerallies [because] he can cover so much more ground." A Rogers source added that the final presidential stop was never confirmed, and a different source close to Trump claimed he had become "bored" with ordinary speeches after 29 visits to boost fellow Republicans.
The decision coincidentally allowed Michigan headlines to remain dominated by fallout from the weekend twist in the state's Senate race, in which Rep. Haley Stevens, who narrowly lost the Democratic primary, endorsed Rogers over El-Sayed, citing El-Sayed's association with anti-Israel commentator Hasan Piker, whom the candidate repeatedly refused to disavow. The stakes run through Trump's own final two years: if Republicans lose the House, the Post noted, he faces investigations and legislative gridlock, and a Democratic Senate would make confirmations harder. The Reflecting Pool speech itself ranged across his Washington building plans — a triumphal arch on the Potomac, a promenade at the Lincoln Memorial, a redeveloped D.C. golf course, a new White House helipad, new sod and a refresh of Lafayette Park — and he defended his addition of a swimming-pool liner to the Reflecting Pool, repeating disputed allegations that the material was vandalized when it tore. He also plugged steep declines in illegal immigration, strong economic data and increased national wealth that he attributed to tariffs. "It's the golden age of America. We have a country that we can be proud of again," Trump said. "For some reason, the sitting president doesn't win the midterms, but we gave this a very strong shot."
