Trump strays from selling economic policy in campaign-style speech that launched into insults
In a speech the White House billed as President Donald Trump's kickoff event for a tour around the country focused on his economic agenda ahead of next year's midterm elections, Trump passed off any blame for high costs onto his predecessor almost a year into his second term.
Speaking for nearly an hour and 40 minutes, Trump strayed from the issue of affordability, launching into derogatory language to call out his political opponents, and prompting his supporters into a 'Send her back' chant about Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar.
On the economy, Trump blamed the Biden administration for the high cost of groceries, gas, and inflation levels and claimed that his administration has brought those prices down.
"That's our message. They gave you high prices. They gave you the highest inflation in history, and we're giving you, we're bringing those prices down rapidly," Trump said. "Lower prices, bigger paychecks -- you're getting lower prices, bigger paychecks. We're getting inflation, we're crushing it, and you're getting much higher wages."
"I have no higher priority than making America affordable again," Trump said. "That's what we're going to do. And again, they cause the high prices, and we're bringing them down. It's a simple message."
In recent weeks, as the president has attempted to sell his economic message, he's faced criticism for appearing to dismiss concerns about the realities of the economy. Speaking at a roundtable last week, Trump called the issue of affordability "the greatest con job" and a "Democratic hoax" -- comments he repeated on Tuesday.
"I said it the other day, and a lot of people misinterpreted this, 'Oh, he doesn't realize prices are high.' Prices are coming down very substantially. But they have a new word, you know? They always have a hoax. The new word is affordability."
Although Trump has extolled his economic plans, a recent Gallup poll found that only 36% of Americans approve of his handling of the economy, while 62% disapprove and 2% have no opinion.
And it's clear that the Trump administration is feeling pressure to address concerns about the cost of living following November's elections, which saw voters across New Jersey, Virginia and New York City push back against the president's agenda.
In the weeks that followed, the Trump administration made shifts in its economic plans, including rolling back tariffs on some food imports in an attempt to lower grocery prices, and floating the idea of a 50-year mortgage.
Trump repeatedly attacks Rep. Ilhan Omar
During his speech Tuesday, Trump deviated from an economic message and repeatedly attacked Omar, a four-term Democratic congresswoman who has frequently drawn his ire, appearing to mispronounce her name and referring to the hijab she wears as a "little turban."
"She comes in, does nothing but b----. She's always complaining. She comes from a country where, I mean, it's considered about the worst country in the world, right? They have no military. They have no nothing. They have no parliament. They don't know what the hell the word parliament means. They have nothing," said Trump.
He added, "She should get the hell out. Throw her the hell out," he continued, as his supporters then launched into a 'send her back' chants about the Congresswoman, who is an American citizen.
The president continued his anti-immigrant rhetoric, complaining that there were too many people immigrating into America from Africa rather than Europe.
"Let's have a few from from Denmark. Do you mind sending us a few people? Send us some nice people. Do you mind? But we always take people from Somalia, places that are a disaster, right? Filthy, dirty, disgusting, ridden with crime. The only thing they're good at is going after ships."
More campaign-style events planned
The event Tuesday came as Trump has faced pushback for not doing more to address the high cost of living. In response, Trump has claimed that affordability is being used as a "buzzword" by Democrats ahead of next year's midterm elections. Last week, Trump called the issue of affordability the "greatest con job."
Ahead of the event, Trump defended his economic agenda in an interview with Politico published on Tuesday morning, touting the revenue his global tariffs have generated while saying he would consider more carve-outs for goods impacted by the levies that Americans find too expensive.
Trump has faced pushback, including from Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former top ally, for not doing more to address the high cost of living and focusing too much on foreign affairs.
"Most of my time is spent here. But when I do go outside, it's only going outside for here. For instance, settling and solving the problem with China, that has a huge effect in the United States. Making deals with Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, all of these countries, you're talking about trillions and trillions of dollars. So I could ... I guess I could say let's not deal with anybody. We wouldn't have much of a country," Trump told Politico.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Tuesday morning that Trump is "going to give a positive, economic-focused speech" in Pennsylvania and called on Republicans to "be more vocal about touting the accomplishments of this administration."
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles said Trump will campaign for Republican candidates in the midterms "like it's 2024 again."
"The president started raising money for the midterms the day after the election, and he's sitting on a huge war chest to help these people. And he'll use it, and he'll use himself, and he'll use his money that he's raised, probably his money too, and, and, and nobody can outwork him, so there's every reason to be confident, but we have to actually get it done," Wiles said on "The Mom View" podcast on Monday.
A White House official said earlier Tuesday that Trump may hold similar events later this month and additional events are expected after New Year's Day.
