President Trump delivered his election-eve speech at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Nov. 2, 2026, touting the pool's renovation. The Supreme Court denied the administration's request on California ballots, and Rep. Haley Stevens endorsed Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan's Senate race.
President Donald Trump delivered an election-eve speech at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 2, 2026, touting the pool's renovation. A White House official described the address as his closing argument ahead of the midterm elections, and it was his final scheduled remarks before Election Day aside from telerallies. He said Republicans gave the effort a very strong shot while acknowledging that historically the president's party does not win the midterms. Republicans are fighting to maintain control of Congress in Tuesday's elections.
Trump was scheduled to speak at 2 p.m. ET Monday and take part in nine tele-rallies through the day, after in-person stops in Iowa and Kansas on Sunday. He held rallies in Dubuque, Iowa, and Salina, Kansas, calling Salina his 30th rally and final campaign stop. The Iowa and Kansas stops had been reinstated after initially being scrapped in favor of tele-rallies aimed at voters across nearly 20 states. His weekslong campaign blitz took him across more than 20 states, and he staged more than 25 rallies in largely conservative areas over a month-long span. Polls predicted the Iran war, high energy prices and cost of living increases could spell a strong election night for Democrats, and Trump has low approval ratings. A White House official said Trump will monitor election results from the White House.
The Supreme Court on Monday denied the Trump administration's request to require California to set aside ballots from 20,000 alleged noncitizens, in a one-line unsigned order with no noted dissents. The administration had gone to the court after a federal appeals court declined on Friday to order this. A Justice Department attorney, Kenneth Kao, agreed it was a fair statement that there is a high error rate in the administration's list of alleged California noncitizen voters.
Rep. Haley Stevens, a Democrat, endorsed Republican Mike Rogers over Democrat Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan's Senate race on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. El-Sayed beat her in the primary, and she said he is not fit to serve in the U.S. Senate. Democratic leaders including Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi condemned the move. Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel said Stevens was no longer a party member, and House Democrats are weighing whether to banish her. El-Sayed's campaign said it raised more than $2.4 million on Nov. 1, its largest single-day haul, from more than 65,000 donors.
In April, Trump said he would fix the Reflecting Pool in days for about $1.5 million before Independence Day. After he declared the work complete in June, the pool was choked with algae blooms and its liner began peeling in sections, and it was drained again for repairs in mid-July. Trump has blamed vandals, but the office of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said the problems were caused by shoddy workmanship. The Justice Department acknowledged in a court filing that botched installation by the contractor was to blame. It charged former Olympian David Hearn with damaging the pool, then dropped the case after determining he was not responsible, and a judge later permanently dismissed it.
Two U.S. officials said the U.S. military carried out limited strikes on Iran's Qeshm Island on the eve of the midterms, describing them as self-defense and not a resumption of major combat operations. Trump said no and shook his head when NBC News asked whether he was considering striking Iran again. Ohio's early voting surpassed 2022's record, with more than 1.7 million ballots cast versus 1.46 million.
