President Trump on Tuesday embarks on a campaign to try to recapture the narrative that might well decide the 2026 midterms: affordability. Trump will head to Pennsylvania, where he will speak at the Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mount Pocono, a working-class town in a swing House district, reports USA Today. The visit comes as polls show widespread anxiety over the cost of living—and as some within Trump's own party question whether he's focused enough on those concerns.
Trump insists his administration is turning things around. "We inherited a total mess from the Biden administration," he said this week. "The Democrats caused the affordability problem, and we're the ones that are fixing it." Last week, he called the affordability issue a "con job" pushed by Democrats. A New York Times analysis sees Trump as being in essentially the same position as then-President Biden early last year: "Telling the American people that they are doing great, when many don't feel that way."
Trump asserts that inflation is "essentially gone" and says the outlook will keep improving as the effects of his tariffs take hold. But year-over-year inflation is actually up slightly, and prices have only increased since the president declared "Liberation Day" in April thanks to his tariffs, and promised that relief was on the way, per the AP. A new Politico poll found that 46% of Americans—including more than a third of Trump voters—say the cost of living is the worst they've ever seen.
Some Republicans are grumbling that Trump has spent too much time on foreign policy. "I would really like to see nonstop meetings at the WH on domestic policy," Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene posted last month. Trump has been highlighting gas prices and other consumer "bright spots," while Democrats argue his policies, especially the tariffs, are making things worse. The AP suggests that his reception on Tuesday might be a sign of how well his message is playing.
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