President Donald Trump will travel to Pennsylvania on Tuesday to headline a rally in the Pocono Mountains, aiming to bolster his economic message amid persistent public skepticism about his handling of inflation and prices.
The event marks a shift from official White House messaging to a campaign-style setting as Trump seeks to reframe national anxieties about affordability ahead of the 2026 midterms.
“We’re bringing prices way down,” Trump said Monday at the White House. “You can call it ‘affordability’ or anything you want, but the Democrats caused the affordability problem, and we’re the ones that are fixing it.”
Why It Matters
The visit comes as Republicans recalibrate their economic messaging following poor showings in recent off-year elections. Trump has blamed his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, for inflation, but some of his own policies, including sweeping tariffs enacted in April, have drawn criticism for driving up consumer prices.
With affordability now a central issue for both parties, Trump’s rally will serve as a public test of his claims that his administration is curbing inflation through deregulatory moves and targeted price negotiations on drugs and energy.
What To Know
Trump will address supporters in a congressional district considered critical to House control next year. Republican Representative Rob Bresnahan won the seat in 2024 by just 1.5 percentage points, and Democrats have already lined up challengers, including Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti.
The rally will take place at Mount Airy Casino Resort in Monroe County, according to the Pennsylvania Republican Party, and is set to begin at 6 p.m., according to WVIA, a Scranton-based PBS and NPR affiliate.
Monroe County itself flipped from Biden to Trump in 2024, helping to deliver Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes and secure Trump’s return to the White House. The area, anchored by tourism and affordable housing markets, has seen rising costs in groceries, energy and insurance.
Trump has recently touted changes to federal fuel-efficiency rules and interest-rate pressure on the Federal Reserve as strategies to ease cost burdens. Critics argue such moves could worsen inflation, but the administration believes economic momentum will improve perceptions by mid-2026.
Although the campaign has not posted official livestream details as of Tuesday morning, Trump’s speaking events are consistently broadcast live on the White House’s official YouTube channel and covered by major cable news channels and select online outlets.
What People Are Saying
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles outlined the campaign’s strategy, explaining on The Mom View podcast: “We’re actually going to turn that on its head and put him on the ballot because so many of those low-propensity voters are Trump voters. So I haven’t quite broken it to him yet, but he’s going to campaign like it’s 2024 again.”
Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chair Eugene DePasquale told Reuters: “While Trump is desperately trying to sell his economic failures to the very people in northeastern Pennsylvania that he’s harming, Pennsylvanians know Trump’s chaotic tariffs and harmful policies are raising the costs of everything from groceries to healthcare bills.”
Chris Borick, director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion, told Reuters: “If [Trump] just looks like he’s heralding all the successes and doesn’t acknowledge that people are feeling pain, that’s problematic.”
What Happens Next
The Mount Airy rally is the first in a series of domestic events planned to showcase Trump’s economic record and policy goals ahead of next year’s election. His administration is expected to hold similar events across other battleground districts throughout the winter and spring.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.