President Trump, facing criticism that he's focused more on international issues than kitchen-table concerns, will rev up his domestic messaging aimed at selling his economic agenda ahead of the midterms, according to Republican sources familiar with his plans.
Mr. Trump is set to aggressively campaign in key battlegrounds — starting Tuesday in northeastern Pennsylvania in the Scranton area —and push back on mounting voter frustration over the cost of everyday essentials. Mr. Trump's trip was first reported by Axios.
Sources tell CBS News the focus of this messaging event will be on gas prices, which recently fell below $3 nationwide for the first time in over four years, and rising wages.
Affordability is an issue that helped lift him over Kamala Harris last year and has propelled Democratic campaigns in this year's off-year elections. But a recent CBS News poll showed that 77% of those surveyed believed the president was not spending " enough time" focused on the economy and rising prices.
Behind the scenes, aides say the president has grown increasingly irritated by perceptions that his policies aren't easing prices, repeatedly insisting costs are falling and calling Democrats' affordability attacks a "hoax." He's floated several proposals to address rising expenses, hoping to reassure anxious voters and shore up GOP prospects in the upcoming midterm landscape.
During a Cabinet meeting Tuesday at the White House, Mr. Trump said "affordability" is a "fake narrative that Democrats talk about" and "it doesn't mean anything to anybody."
"Affordability — I inherited the worst inflation in history," Mr. Trump said. "There was no affordability. Nobody could afford anything."
Mr. Trump won Pennsylvania, a decisive swing state with 19 Electoral College votes, in 2016 before the state swung to President Biden in 2020 and then elected a Democrat, John Fetterman, in the Senate in 2022. But Mr. Trump won it again in 2024 with 50.4% to Harris' 48.7%.
Trump, Hegseth speak during Cabinet meeting
Trump says "affordability" is con job during Cabinet meeting, Hegseth touts lethal boat strikes
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