Trump will again test ‘blame Democrats’ message on the economy — this time at a casino

President Donald Trump will visit Pennsylvania Tuesday where he will talk up the efforts he’s taken to ease economic pain for Americans — the latest attempt to reboot an affordability message that’s been hindered by his insistence that the economy is strong.

Trump has repeatedly tried to control the narrative by suggesting he and his administration are fighting an uphill battle against policies enacted by former President Joe Biden — he has called affordability a “Democrat scam” — and is asking Americans to give him more time to resuscitate the country. And he’s expected to lean on that same message in the battleground state of Pennsylvania at a casino resort in Mount Pocono.

In an interview with POLITICO's Dasha Burns for a special episode of The Conversation that published on Tuesday, Trump gave himself an “A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus” grade on the economy. And on Tuesday, Trump’s speech is likely to be more of the same — reminding Americans about the steps the administration says it’s taken to help the economy in the face of what he inherited from Biden.

Ahead of the trip, White House spokesperson Kush Desai said “much work remains” but that “putting an end to Joe Biden’s inflation and affordability crisis has been a Day One priority for President Trump” and ticked off accomplishments including “slashing costly regulations to securing historic drug pricing deals efforts that have cooled inflation and raised real wages.”

One person familiar with the White House’s thinking on affordability, granted anonymity to discuss the matter candidly, said “it’s an issue and the only way to address it head on. Sooner the better.”

A second person close to the White House, also granted anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said the stop in Pennsylvania is the first in a “tour” where Trump will discuss the economy. But the person acknowledged that discussions about affordability concerns may not come naturally to the president because “he truly believes what he says in that the economy is strong.”

The president’s speech on Tuesday is a way to test that messaging ahead of the midterm election, as the country steams toward the end of the year, when health care premiums are set to spike if Affordable Care Act subsidies are not extended — and amid a tariff agenda that some experts say is increasing the costs of certain commodities. Overall, prices rose 3 percent over the 12 months ending in September, according to the latest available Consumer Price Index data.

Affordability concerns were also at the center of successful Democratic campaigns in New Jersey and Virginia last month, two races that have led to growing concerns for Republicans ahead of the midterms.

Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the center-right American Action Forum think tank, said “every president blames his predecessor” — but noted that the argument has a limited shelf life.

Holtz-Eakin suggested that tack only works for “about a year,” after which “you own it, you’re in the White House, good or bad, it happens on your watch. You own it, and they need to recognize that’s how the American people behave, no matter what they say.”

Indeed, Americans have already begun to blame Trump, with 46 percent saying the economy belongs to him now and his administration is responsible for the costs they struggle with, according toThe POLITICO poll released last week. Thirty-seven percent of Trump voters say they think the cost of living is the worst they can remember.

The second person close to the White House called Trump’s affordability messaging “step one” and “only part of the fight.”

The person said they will continue to highlight advances made by the GOP megalaw, but that “there’s still a lot more work to do. You cannot sell a product that the people already feel is deficient. So it's going to take altering the product as well.”

“I think he's well within his capabilities to bring the economy the American people remember they had under his first administration, but he'll have to have a dual hat here” — not only the “CEO of America” but also the “mayor of America,” who is “more … in touch with Main Street than Wall Street."

Tuesday’s speech marks the latest of several attempts to focus on affordability and persuade voters that the problems they face stem from his predecessor.

Prior pivots include Trump’sspeech at an annual gathering of McDonald’s restaurant franchise owners and executives last month. During those remarks, he blamed Biden for lingering high prices and said he was able to get to “normal inflation,” but that “we’re going to get it a little bit lower.”

The president on Monday again blamed Biden for prices, saying at a roundtable, “now, beef is starting to come down and some other things are starting to come down. Again, we inherited these problems but we’re getting them down.”

But the administration has at times delivered conflicting messages — for instance, saying tariffs are raking in record revenues that benefit the country, while also creating tariff carve-outsto bring down the soaring prices of some grocery staples, such as beef or coffee. And Trump told POLITICO that more carve-outs could be coming for other goods — though he added that “on some I’ll increase tariffs.”

On Monday, Trump announced a $12 billion aid package for farmers hurt by his tariffs and other economic challenges after months of the administration promising to provide relief for farmers negatively impacted by its trade policies.

Some Democrats responded by bashing Trump for having to fix a problem that he created.

“Trump abandoned America’s farmers and now wants credit for handing them a Band-Aid that won’t solve their problems,” the DNC War Room said in a memo.

Trump last week moved to ditchBiden-era fuel economy requirements as a way to help drive down automobile prices, though experts largely don’t think it will help car prices, at least any time soon.

Trump and his allies on Capitol Hill also have increasingly pointed to gas prices in recent weeks as a sign of an improving economy. The White House released a statement on Monday that the nationwide average for regular gas is at its lowest level in 1,681 days, citing GasBuddy on X.

It vowed to keep pushing to give Americans relief -- a shift in rhetoric from Trump’s claims that inflation is normal and Democrats are perpetuating a hoax.

“That’s all good news for American consumers – and much more progress is on the way. After four years of Biden’s reckless spending, open borders, and anti-energy policies that drove inflation through the roof and crushed working families, the momentum is now unmistakably in the right direction — and the Trump Administration will stop at nothing to make sure all Americans feel relief,” the White House said.

Diana Nerozzi contributed to this report.