With the Middle East threatening to explode into all-out war, President Trump on Wednesday took time to gush over a “beautiful flag pole” that workers were installing on the White House South Lawn.

“The White House opened about 1800, a little before that, and I’ve always said, ‘Why doesn’t it have a flagpole from the grass?’ They call it a flagpole from the grass. They have a little one on top, very little one. This is about the largest you’ll ever see, and it’s tapered,” Mr. Trump said on the lawn, flanked by workers.

“It’s a quality that you guys rarely get to even put up,” he said to the workers. “They do that for a living, they’re incredible people. I don’t know them, but I love them and I would bet that they all voted for Trump. I mean, I don’t know for a fact, but I think so, but we’re about to lift it.”

After pointing out where the South Lawn pole was set to be erected, he added, “In this case we had a lot of choices putting it on that hill, putting it in different places. It’s such a beautiful pole we thought we’d put it near. I mean, it always looks best when it’s near … and these are the best poles anywhere in the country, or in the world, actually. They’re tapered, they have the nice top, you know.”

The installation of the two 100-foot-tall flagpoles — another will be on the North Lawn at the front of the White House — began on Monday. In a post on Truth Social, Mr. Trump said, “It is a gift from me of something which was always missing from this magnificent place.” He also said that “these are the most magnificent poles made – They are tall, tapered, rust proof, rope inside the pole, and of the highest quality.”

But Mr. Trump was exaggerating when he said the poles are the “largest.” Egypt has the tallest, at 662 feet, followed by Azerbaijan at 627 feet. Flagpoles in St. Petersburg, Florida, are the tallest in America, at 574 feet.

At the end of his impromptu press conference, Mr. Trump said, “Now we’re going to put up a beautiful flag pole and a beautiful flag and I hope you enjoy it.”