Trump tests his 'affordability' message in a midterm battleground district

Trump said Americans are already seeing "lower prices" and "bigger paychecks," while frequently going off-topic to expound on issues like immigration, trans people and Somalia.

MOUNT POCONO, Pa. — President Donald Trump traveled to this hardscrabble and politically competitive part of the country Tuesday to tout his economic record — insisting that he's already the architect of "lower prices" and "bigger paychecks," as a massive sign behind him proclaimed — while voters here and across the country say their bank accounts are still squeezed.

"The only thing that is truly going up big, it’s called the stock market and your 401(k)s," Trump told a crowd of more than 1,000 supporters packed into a cozy ballroom at the Mount Airy Casino Resort, nestled in the Pocono Mountains.

In hallmark fashion, he veered far off script and off the topic of affordability at times. He attacked Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. — prompting a chant of "send her back" to Somalia — denigrated windmills, mocked transgender people and called his predecessor, Joe Biden, a "son of a b----."

President Donald Trump arrives Tuesday at the Mount Airy Casino Resort.Jonathan Ernst / ReutersBut even when he focused on the theme of his speech, Trump continued to publicly wrestle with the question of whether affordability is really an issue for Americans — and whether he has done enough already to right the economy. At one point he said "affordability" is a "new word" concocted by Democrats to criticize him. At another, he proclaimed, "I have no higher priority than making America affordable again."

Trump brought allies — including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Energy Secretary Chris Wright — to back him up.