President Donald Trump hit the road Tuesday night to tout his economic successes during a rally in Pennsylvania, a battleground state that could prove key to Republicans holding the House in the 2026 midterm elections.
"I have no higher priority than making America affordable again," said Trump, who spoke in front of a banner reading "Lower Prices, Bigger Paychecks." "And again, they caused high prices, and we're bringing them down. … But that's our message. They gave you high prices. They gave you the highest inflation in history. And we're bringing those prices down rapidly.
"You're getting lower prices, bigger paychecks. We're getting inflation [down]. We're crushing it. And you're getting much higher wages. I mean, the only thing that's really going up big, it's called the stock market. And your 401(k) — that's going up."
The event was held at the Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mount Pocono, a working-class town in a northeastern Pennsylvania district that Trump won by 9 points in 2024. The rally aired live on Newsmax and the Newsmax2 free online streaming platform.
Trump has faced criticism that he has taken his eye off the ball on the U.S. economy, with Democrats and mainstream media outlets warning of an affordability crisis as a central campaign issue heading into the midterms.
Pollster Peter Allocco told Newsmax on Wednesday that any talk of such a crisis is a "false narrative."
"Democrats talking about affordability is like Bonnie and Clyde preaching about public safety," he said. "And they really are truly the enemy of the working class when they do it. You know, our oil prices are coming down very substantially. Energy prices. And honestly, with that, everything comes down because there's nothing nearly in the category of oil — you wouldn't even know what second is.
"There are seconds and thirds, but it's so far down the list we don't even talk about them. You get energy prices down, which we're doing with, again, the greatest amount of drilling, the greatest amount of fuel being produced right now in our country than ever before."
Inflation has ticked up slightly to 3% from 2.8% in February — the first month of Trump's second term — according to the Consumer Price Index. But fears of a tariff-driven inflation surge cutting into workers' paychecks have not materialized.
The White House has also noted that real wages for hourly workers have seen their largest increase under any administration in nearly 60 years.
"When Biden and congressional Democrats had power, they blew up our economy, sent prices soaring," Trump said. "The poor guy [Biden], he didn't know what the hell was happening. OK, I'm sorry, it wasn't him. It was the lunatics that circled."
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Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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