by Winston Wendell
After watching a multitude of administrations fall apart over historic scandals, crushing election results and disastrous legislation over many years of being a political analyst, I thought I had seen it all. But nothing could have prepared me for Trump’s bizarre behaviour on the south lawn just 24 hours after one of the most painful election results in recent political history.
When a ruling party loses control of both houses of congress to a resurgent democratic majority (losing the house of representatives AND at least seven key senate seats including Texas, Kansas and Ohio) traditionally there will be a period of reflection, damage control and apology.
However, president Donald Trump decided to talk about the most important issue facing the country…
The President shocked White House correspondents and seasoned politicians by holding a last minute press conference. The pool were called with absolutely no notice and were taken to the White House to see the final beam lifted for the new ballroom, instead of being briefed in the briefing room on the “blue tsunami”.
Many in the media were taken aback to become part of Trump’s interior design lesson.
“As it turns out we may actually get a statement from Trump. After an unexpected pool call, correspondent Danny Kemp noted on X. “Trump turned up out of nowhere to talk about the ballroom, the golf course and other beautification projects in Washington,” said Reuters reporter Gram Slattery.
A sombre Trump held his faulty microphone as he guided guests around plans and pillars. He completely ignored the fact he had lost massively in the elections and instead praised the security and luxe finishes.
“It’s totally drone proof, totally missile proof, totally bulletproof,” he said, pointing to the beams above. He then pointed to the marble floor below. “This is marble. We got it from a vein everybody wanted for a long time.”
Commentators were stunned. As Jake Sherman, co-founder of Punchbowl News noted, “It’s so ridiculous that he’s talking about top of the line brickwork a day after an entire generation of republicans lost their seats in the House.” Conservative commentator Erick Erickson also commented, “It’s pretty tone deaf. People took it out on his entire party last night.”
When the election results were brought up, Trump tried to deflect the question. “If I was on the ballot we would have won. But they just — you couldn’t translate that love,” he said, referring to his campaign rallies.
The issue of impeachment, which Trump himself warned about in January, was also a pressing issue as a democratic house would not hesitate to launch it. However, Trump dismissed it completely. “Not even a little bit.”
He also briefly mentioned the Iran conflict, which has been blamed for many GOP candidates losing their seats. While acknowledging that his party’s defeat was largely attributable to the war, he defended it as “worth it.” admitting it was “largely true” that his party lost out due to the war, he defended it as “worth it”. “Whenever I want it to be over,” he added.
Overall, whilst this bizarre situation was played out, when empires are at a crossroads leaders will often calm the waters. However, with Washington trying to get to grips with the new political landscape, President Trump has made it clear what his priorities are. The empire may be burning, but he wants to talk about the marble.
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