For several modern presidents, it’s become an unfortunate right of passage: talking to the press in the immediate aftermath of midterm election defeats and taking some unpleasant medicine.

The day after Election Day 1994, for example, Bill Clinton acknowledged sweeping Democratic losses, conceded that there had been “too much politics-as-usual in Washington” and concluded, “We were held accountable yesterday.” The day after Election Day 2006, George W. Bush fielded reporters’ questions and acknowledged the electoral “thumping” that Republicans had just suffered. The day after Election Day 2010, Barack Obama held a press conference of his own in which he publicly lamented his party’s electoral “shellacking.”

The day after Election Day 2026, it stood to reason that Donald Trump might grudgingly do the same thing in the wake of a humiliating election cycle, and for a fleeting moment, it seemed like that might actually happen. Journalists covering the White House were alerted early Wednesday that the president wanted to speak to them.

But the incumbent Republican apparently wasn’t much interested in reflecting on the voters’ verdict or what remains of his failing presidency. Rather, Trump retreated to his safe space — and spent nearly 45 minutes showing off the progress on his beloved ballroom vanity project.

Even for a president known for his bizarre antics, there was something surreal about the circumstances. Trump’s party, one day earlier, had lost control of Congress and suffered a series of brutal defeats up and down the ballot in states nationwide.

It was against this backdrop that the president turned his attention to a ballroom. And his steel preferences. And his efforts to obtain a certain marble that he liked. And the importance of his vision, not for his policy agenda, but for incoming chandeliers.

For good measure, Trump took some time to tell journalists how “magnificent” he thinks the Reflecting Pool looks, adding, “Did you guys see the helipad from up top, how beautiful that is?”

The display left little doubt: This guy’s done. To the extent that he ever really cared about doing the job, those days are clearly over. On Wednesday afternoon, he looked like a man who simply no longer cares.

Just as notable was how oddly fitting it was to see the president reinforce so many of the criticisms he faced in the run-up to the midterms. Trump has long been accused of turning a blind eye to the needs of his party and the nation he ostensibly leads, putting his own parochial and personal pursuits above all.

The day after the elections, he left little doubt that those criticisms are accurate.

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