President Donald Trump will put his claims to address America’s affordability problems to the test at a rally on Tuesday in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania — shifting an argument from Oval Office appearances and social media posts to a campaign-style event.
The trip comes as polls show public confidence in Trump’s economic leadership has wavered. After dismal results for Republicans in last month’s off-cycle elections, the White House has tried to convince voters that the economy will strengthen next year and that any concerns about inflation have nothing to do with Trump.
The president has consistently blamed his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, for inflation even as his own aggressive implementation of policies has pushed prices, which had stabilized after peaking in 2022, to a four-decade high. Inflation began to accelerate after Trump announced his sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs in April. Companies warned that the import taxes could be passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices and fewer workers, but Trump continues to insist that inflation has eased.
“We are bringing prices down significantly,” Trump said at the White House on Monday. “You can call it ‘affordability’ or whatever you want – but Democrats created the affordability problem, and we’re the ones solving it.”
The president’s reception in the province where his Tuesday rally is taking place could be a signal of how much voters trust his claims. Monroe County switched to Trump in the 2024 election after endorsing Biden in 2020, helping the Republican win the swing state of Pennsylvania and return to the White House after a four-year hiatus.
Home to the Pocono Mountains, the county has been largely dependent on tourism for skiing, hiking, hunting and other activities as a source of employment. The proximity to New York City (less than two hours by car) has also attracted people looking for more affordable housing.
It’s also an area that could help decide control of the House of Representatives in next year’s midterm elections.
Trump is holding his rally in a congressional district held by freshman Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan, who is a top target of Democrats and won his 2024 race by about 1.5 percentage points, one of the closest in the country. Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, a Democrat, is running for the nomination to challenge him.
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles said on the online conservative talk show “The Mom View” that Trump would hit the “campaign trail” next year to engage supporters who might otherwise sit out a congressional race.
Wiles, who helped manage Trump’s 2024 campaign, said most administrations are trying to localize the midterm elections and keep the president out of the race, but she plans to do the opposite.
“We’re going to turn that on its head,” Wiles said, “and put him on the ballot because so many of those low-propensity voters are Trump voters.”
Wiles added, “So I haven’t quite told him yet, but he’s going to campaign like it’s 2024 again.”
Trump has said he is providing relief to consumers by relaxing fuel efficiency standards for cars and signing deals to lower the list prices of prescription drugs.
Trump has also advocated cuts in Federal Reserve interest rates, which affect the supply of money in the U.S. economy. He claims this would lower the cost of mortgages and car loans, although critics warn that cuts on the scale Trump envisions could instead worsen inflation.
The US economy has shown signs of resilience as the stock market has risen this year and overall growth looks solid for the third quarter. But many Americans feel that prices for housing, groceries, education, electricity and other basic needs are eating up their incomes, a dynamic that the Trump administration says it expects to fade next year with more investment in artificial intelligence and manufacturing.
Since the November election, when Democrats won key races with a focus on kitchen-table issues, Trump has often dismissed concerns about prices as a “hoax” and a “scam” to suggest he bears no responsibility for inflation, even as he campaigned on his ability to bring prices down quickly. Only 33% of American adults approve of Trump’s handling of the economy, according to a November survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
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