{"id":126751,"date":"2026-06-24T04:00:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T04:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/126751\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T04:00:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T04:00:26","slug":"donald-trump-at-mack-trucks-touts-economy-iran-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/126751\/","title":{"rendered":"Donald Trump at Mack Trucks touts economy, Iran deal"},"content":{"rendered":"

In his first visit to the Lehigh Valley this year, President Donald Trump made the case for keeping the Republican majority in Congress in an hour-and-a-half speech at the Mack Trucks production facility in Lower Macungie Township<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s visit was in his official capacity as president, but often had the feel of a campaign stop as he urged a raucous crowd of supporters to reelect Republican incumbents in November. The path to retaining the House runs through the Lehigh Valley.<\/p>\n

During his address, the president shouted out several Republican members of Congress in the audience, including Reps. Dan Meuser, Lloyd Schmucker and John Joyce, who are expected to hold onto their seats in safe Republican districts.<\/p>\n

But Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, who represents the Lehigh Valley, faces a difficult reelection challenge from Democrat\u00a0Bob Brooks, a former Bethlehem firefighter. The race is considered a toss-up that could help determine which party takes control of the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Meuser, Schmucker and Joyce] are all in good shape, but we have got to get Ryan Mackenzie elected,\u201d Trump said to audience applause.<\/p>\n

Republicans losing the House would be a major blow to Trump\u2019s second term agenda \u2014 Democrats oppose key Trump-backed bills including the Save America Act and have vowed to investigate alleged corruption in the Trump administration.<\/p>\n

Trump made the case that the American economy is strong, even though polls show a majority of Americans see things differently. According to a YouGov poll,<\/a> 61% of Americans believe the economy is worsening, not improving.<\/p>\n

Still, he touted some of the key accomplishments of his second term, including cutting taxes on tips, Social Security benefits and overtime payments via the \u201cBig Beautiful Bill Act.\u201d He also mentioned his signature tariffs, which he has claimed encourage U.S. manufacturing, and a White House deal to lower the cost of weight loss drugs to Medicare recipients.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we have done in the last year and a half, nobody has seen anything like it,\u201d Trump said. \u201cYou finally have a president who is putting workers first, Pennsylvania first and America first.\u201d<\/p>\n

The president shouted out several major, upcoming investments in the Lehigh Valley\u2019s economy, including new Eli Lilly<\/a> and Nokia<\/a> production and manufacturing facilities, both in Upper Macungie Township; as well as B. Braun\u2019s plans to expand a Hanover Township, Lehigh County, facility.<\/a> Each of the investments is expected to bring hundreds of new jobs in the region.<\/p>\n

Trump also touched on the country\u2019s tentative deal to halt fighting in Iran. The war began in February and caused major hikes in the price of fuel and fertilizer in the U.S.<\/p>\n

He claimed that \u201cwhat was once known as the terrorist state of Iran is in the history books,\u201d and that the conflict has successfully wiped out the country\u2019s Navy, Air Force and missile capabilities. According to the Associated Press,<\/a> the war is believed to have \u201cheavily damaged\u201d Iran\u2019s missile arsenal and other parts of its military, but the extent of the damage is unknown.<\/p>\n

A tentative agreement to end the war has begun to ease the price of gasoline. Last week saw the average price per gallon dip below $4 for the first time since March, though prices still remain higher than they were this time last year, per PBS.<\/a><\/p>\n

Trump also reiterated some of his other signature talking points, including efforts to curb illegal immigration and unproven claims that fraud influenced the 2020 election, which he lost.<\/p>\n

His speech was also punctuated by several long tangents, including on the UFC Freedom 250 event on the White House lawn on his birthday, June 14; first lady Melania Trump\u2019s Amazon Prime-produced documentary; and his stance against men competing in women\u2019s sports.<\/p>\n

Guests at Trump\u2019s rally who spoke before the president included Mackenzie; Meuser; state Treasurer Stacy Garrity, who is the GOP candidate for governor in November; acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling; and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, a Lehigh Valley resident and billionaire founder of payment-processing firm Shift4 Payments.<\/p>\n

Reactions<\/p>\n

Trump fans in the crowd said that despite lingering inflation and economic uncertainty brought on by the Iran war, they feel the president is putting the country on the right track.<\/p>\n

Edward Xavier Young of Brick Township, New Jersey, travelled to Lower Macungie early Tuesday to attend the 115th Trump rally of his lifetime.<\/p>\n

Young believes that Trump\u2019s second term has been \u201ceven better\u201d than his first, crediting the president for appointing a Cabinet that is more loyal to his agenda than their predecessors from Trump\u2019s first term.<\/p>\n

He called himself a die-hard advocate for every aspect of the \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d movement, and said he supports Trump\u2019s actions in Iran, even though they have caused prices to spike.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe economy might be rough right now, but when you\u2019re in a war, it generally is, but things are going to turn out. I have faith that things are going to turn around pretty soon,\u201d Young said.<\/p>\n

Kevin Cope of Bethlehem Township told The Morning Call he is glad to hear about Trump\u2019s effort to return manufacturing jobs to the United States after seeing those jobs moving overseas for years.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy life has been in manufacturing and I\u2019ve seen my job being exported over, at that time, to Japan, and that\u2019s when the electronics and the computers were starting to be built overseas,\u201d Cope said. \u201cThis is music to my ears.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, he criticized the Trump administration\u2019s move to accept additional beef imports, a move that drew criticism from some ranchers and fellow Republicans, according to The Hill.<\/p>\n

Anita Solysiak of Hellertown told The Morning Call that, although she is a registered Democrat, she is a staunch Trump supporter and believes that the Democratic Party is \u201cturning socialist,\u201d which she called \u201cfrightening.\u201d<\/p>\n

She is eager to cast a ballot to reelect Mackenzie in November, she said, and added she believes the congressman is trying to make life better for veterans as a member of the Congressional Veterans Affairs Committee.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really think he is trying to help,\u201d Solysiak said.<\/p>\n

Democratic groups wasted no time criticizing the Trump visit, highlighting the still-high costs of diesel and the Trump administration\u2019s cut to social safety measures like Medicaid and SNAP food benefits.<\/p>\n

According to a social media post, Lehigh County Democrats held a public protest against Trump\u2019s visit at 1 p.m. near the facility.<\/p>\n

In a news release, Bob Brooks\u2019 campaign criticized Mackenzie and Trump in tandem, saying the two have \u201cunleash[ed] a cost of living crisis, rip[ped] away access to health care, support[ed] a reckless war in Iran that has cost billions of dollars and raised gas prices.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brooks\u2019 release included critical comments from United Auto Workers Local 677 President Michael Shupp, who represents unionized Mack Trucks workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor more than a decade, Ryan Mackenzie has consistently voted against the interests of working people \u2014 in both Harrisburg and Washington,\u201d Shupp said.<\/p>\n

Mackenzie served six terms as a state representative in Lehigh County before his election to Congress in 2024.<\/p>\n

The UAW endorsed Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, though union leaders have voiced support for Trump\u2019s auto tariffs.<\/p>\n

Reporter Lindsay Weber can be reached at Liweber@mcall.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In his first visit to the Lehigh Valley this year, President Donald Trump made the case for keeping…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126752,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[12,883,60385,1960,13210,61005,62702,50,62587,39,51,62397,74],"class_list":["post-126751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-donald-trump","tag-donald-trump","tag-election","tag-lehigh-county","tag-local-news","tag-local-politics","tag-lower-macungie-township","tag-macungie","tag-news","tag-northampton-county","tag-pennsylvania","tag-politics","tag-top-stories-tmc","tag-trump"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/116803090713806517","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126751"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126751\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}