Donald Trump defended his costly White House ballroom project and troubled renovations to the nation’s capital as he delivered a rally-style speech to kick off weeks of celebrations for America’s 250 years of independence.
“For many years, our country was ruled by politicians who let America and its capital fall into decline and total disrepair. The city named in honor of General George Washington was turned into a national disgrace, but not anymore,” Trump told a crowd of supporters Wednesday night on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
The president said the algae-hit Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool “looks perfect already” as his administration tries to salvage a botched renovation job that reportedly cost more than $14 million.
Days after the project was completed earlier this month, the water turned green from algae blooms and the American flag blue paint that covered the basin chipped away.
Trump claimed it was the work of saboteurs, and his administration said several people were arrested for alleged vandalism.
“It’s been gruesomely vandalized by thugs, bad people, but soon will be looking as beautiful as it looked just two weeks ago. In fact, I looked at it just a little while ago, it looks perfect already, but we’re fixing it.
“The vandals got to it; they’ve largely been caught and are being prosecuted. We can’t let that happen to our country, can’t let that happen, but it looks beautiful under the Trump administration,” he insisted.
Trump also boasted about the “most beautiful ballroom anywhere in the world” that the East Wing of the White House was demolished to build.
The president said in March that his massive golden ballroom was going to cost about $400 million to build and would be paid for by private donors.
But weeks before, the project’s contractor told the administration that it would end up costing $600 million, with at least half expected to be covered by taxpayers, The Washington Post recently reported.
Trump told his supporters Wednesday night that his administration has also worked to repair other parts of the D.C. area.
“Since I took office, more than 50 monuments and memorials have been repaired and beautified, dozens of statues have been cleaned, and they look so nice,” Trump said.
The president ended his speech with a rendition of his phrase, “Make America Great Again.”
“We will make America powerful again. We will make America wealthy again. We will make America healthy again. We will make America strong again. We will make America proud again. We will make America safe again. And we will make America great again. Thank you very much. Happy birthday, America,” he told the crowd.
The U.S. Marine Band then played “YMCA” as Trump danced along.
Wednesday night’s kick-off event also included a flyover by F-35A Lightning II fighter jets and a B-2 Stealth Bomber, as well as music from military bands, Lee Greenwood, who sang his famed song “God Bless the USA,” and FBI Director Kash Patel’s girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, who sang the national anthem.
Several artists, including Young MC, The Commodores and Martina McBride, had dropped out of the event due to what they saw as its political nature.
Ahead of Trump’s speech, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy attacked the artists who pulled out of the event, using a derogatory term often used by MAGA supporters to insult liberals.
“We have to give a big round of applause for our military band and singers — way better than those…that canceled on us,” he told the crowd.
When the lineup started to thin out, Trump announced he would step in for one of his classic rally speeches.
“I am thinking about bringing the Number One Attraction anywhere in the World, the man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime, and he does so without a guitar, the man who loves our Country more than anyone else, and the man who some say is the Greatest President in History,” Trump said about himself in a Truth Social post last month.
Representative Jared Huffman, a California Democrat, told the Associated Press that Trump is trying to make America’s 250th birthday “all about him.”
“It should be about bringing us together,” Huffman said. “He’s trying to make this 250th celebration all about him.”
Trump recently hosted an America 250-branded UFC fight on the White House’s South Lawn. The event was held on June 14, which was the president’s 80th birthday.
Wednesday night’s rally comes at a time when Trump’s approval rating on key issues, including his unpopular Iran war, is at a low, and less than half of Americans feel proud about the country’s 250th birthday.
Just 33 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the economy, 40 percent approve of his handling of immigration and 36 percent approve of his handling of foreign policy, according to the latest Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research polls.
In one AP-NORC survey released Wednesday, only about four in 10 US adults said they felt proud about America’s 250th anniversary. Even fewer, about three in 10, said they felt excited about it.
The festivities on the National Mall, which runs between the U.S. Capitol Building and the Lincoln Memorial, will continue through the rest of June, up until July 10.
The weeks-long Great American State Fair, as the initiative is dubbed, will feature more than 150 exhibits and a huge Ferris wheel.
