By Nandita Bose and Jarrett Renshaw
PHILADELPHIA, Dec 9 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump will visit Pennsylvania on Tuesday to defend his economic record and try to counter voter anxiety over rising costs,
as Republicans brace for a tough fight to hold Congress in next year’s midterms.
Trump plans a campaign-style rally at a Mount Pocono casino in northeastern Pennsylvania to spotlight lower gasoline and egg prices and tax cuts passed this year. He will cast his tariff hikes and regulatory rollbacks as part of a broader effort to “rewire” the U.S. economy, a White House official said.
The White House is grappling with voters' deepening angst about the economy, a vulnerability Democrats exploited in recent state and local election victories. Inflation has eased from recent highs, but many voters remain uneasy about housing, food and childcare costs.
Trump, who campaigned in 2024 on a pledge to lower consumer prices, has grown frustrated that affordability concerns are dominating the political conversation.
"There's this fake narrative that the Democrats talk about - affordability," Trump complained at a cabinet meeting last week. "They just say the word. It doesn't mean anything to anybody."
He reinforced the message at a White House event on Monday, saying, "The Democrats caused the affordability problem. We're the ones fixing it."
The rally on Tuesday is being held in Pennsylvania’s 8th District, a politically competitive area that Republicans see as critical to maintaining their slim majorities in Congress in 2026. Trump and his cabinet plan more such events around the country early next year.
White House spokesman Kush Desai said Trump's team has spent the past year lowering prices, from cutting regulations to securing drug-price deals.
"Much work remains, but President Trump is highlighting the meaningful progress his administration has made and will continue to make," Desai said.
ECONOMIC RELIEF SLOW TO LAND
While Trump has been quick to point to declines in egg and gasoline prices, prices are rising for other items Americans love to consume, such as nearly 15% for beef, 7% for bananas and more than 20% for coffee, according to the recent government data.
Drug-price reductions secured by the Trump administration and a new executive order targeting alleged price-fixing in the food supply chain should help alleviate price pressures, the White House official said.
Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chair Eugene DePasquale said Trump faces deep skepticism among voters in the state he won in 2024 by nearly two percentage points.
"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," he said.
Administration officials forecast stronger growth next year on the back of deregulation moves, changes in tax policy and higher capital investment, although some now concede it may take a "little bit longer" for people to feel the changes.
Economists warn the Trump administration's response mirrors that of his predecessor, and Biden's Democrats ultimately failed to convince voters that manufacturing investments would boost jobs and wages.
Chris Borick, who heads the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion in Allentown, Pennsylvania, said Trump's response to political pressure has been to take his message directly to voters in regions where he has previously performed well.
But the White House’s effort to emphasize economic accomplishments — particularly around energy production and gasoline prices — comes with risks, he said.
"If he just looks like he’s heralding all the successes and doesn’t acknowledge that people are feeling pain, that’s problematic," Borick said.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose and Jarrett Renshaw, writing by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Cynthia Osterman)
