Trump brags about the White House ballroom in his first post-election appearance

In his first public appearance since Republicans racked up major losses in the midterm elections, President Donald Trump boasted Wednesday about the White House ballroom under construction and largely skirted talk about his party’s performance. “This is a special structure. It’s going to be not only one of the biggest, but it’ll be the most beautiful ballroom, I think, anywhere in the world, and they’ve been trying to get it for 150 years,” Trump told construction workers at the ballroom site on the White House grounds, where the East Wing previously stood. “This will be something very special. And so we’re putting up the last piece of steel. I thought it would be appropriate to have the media here,” he added, hinting that the ballroom’s “official opening” would be in the near future.

The president’s only remarks on the election results — which saw Democrats regain control of both houses of Congress, notching wins in longtime GOP strongholds like Texas — came in response to questions from the media after his remarks. When asked to weigh in on the race to pick a new House Republican leader in light of Speaker Mike Johnson’s decision not to run again, Trump said, “We’ll stay out of it.” He said he did not ask Johnson to step down. Asked for comment on Vice