By Gram Slattery
WASHINGTON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Hours after his Republican Party suffered historic losses in the midterm election, President Donald Trump on Wednesday focused his first public event on lengthy remarks about the White House ballroom.
In the early afternoon, after a morning of silence from the administration, Trump abruptly called reporters to a ceremony where crews hoisted what he said was the new structure's final steel beam.
The president met with construction workers and provided his second update of the week on a series of beautification projects he is undertaking in the nation's capital.
"They're being carved out of beautiful limestone," Trump said of the ballroom's pillars. "And they'll be Corinthian, Corinthian design, which is considered the creme de la creme."
Democrats took control of the Senate and House of Representatives on Tuesday, winning seats in deeply conservative states that typically favor Republicans by double digits. The strength of the political reversal prompted the White House to acknowledge the unpopularity of the US and Israeli war with Iran.
Some Republican strategists have called for the administration to wrap up the war and shift its focus to bringing prices down for American consumers instead of building opulent structures throughout Washington.
On Monday, Trump dedicated most of his final television speech before Tuesday's election to his administration's renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Other projects include a granite White House helicopter landing pad, a public golf course renovation and a 250-foot arch he plans to build beside the Potomac River.
Trump's first appearance after the election gave little indication that he wanted to change course.
During Wednesday's nearly 20-minute event, Trump acknowledged that he had taken flak for spending so much time and energy on prestige projects, but he said the ballroom was needed for the glory of the country.
"I like it," he said on Wednesday. "For me, it's relaxing."
Trump, a billionaire former New York real estate developer, discusses his renovation projects in Washington regularly with reporters. At one point during Wednesday's event, Trump paused to watch the beam's installation during a back-and-forth with reporters about the possibility of his impeachment by a Congress led by Democrats.
"Now, envision chandeliers all over," Trump said. "Envision marble floors. Oh, it's going to be good."
(Reporting by Gram Slattery in Washington; Editing by Trevor Hunnicutt and David Gregorio)
