Trump will speak in Pennsylvania to start selling his economic agenda before the midterm elections

Amid criticism that he has focused too much on foreign policy rather than an “America First” agenda, President Donald Trump will kick off what will be a year focused on domestic travel and promoting his economic agenda with a speech in the battleground state of Pennsylvania on Tuesday, a White House official confirmed to ABC News.

Trump will respond to criticism of the economy and advance his next economic plans.

“He “The President will travel to Pennsylvania to discuss how he and the Administration continue to focus on meeting his Day 1 priority of ending Joe Biden’s inflation crisis,” the White House official said in an email to ABC News.

Trump could also hold another event similar to the one planned for Pennsylvania later this month, with additional events expected after New Year’s Day, the White House official said.

Trump has faced criticism, including from Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former top ally, for not doing more to address the high cost of living. In response, Trump has claimed that Democrats are using affordability as a “buzzword” ahead of next year’s midterm elections. Last week, Trump called the affordability issue “the biggest scam.”

“It’s a scam. I think affordability is the biggest scam. They look at you and say, ‘affordability.’ They don’t say anything else. Everybody says, ‘Oh, their prices were too low.’ No, they had the worst inflation,” Trump said, referring to Democratic criticism of his economy.

Trump defended his economic agenda in an interview with politician released Tuesday morning, touting the revenue his global tariffs have generated and saying he would consider more exceptions for goods hit by taxes that Americans consider too expensive.

Trump also dismissed critics, including Greene, who said he has been too focused on foreign affairs.

“Most of my time is spent here. But when I go out, I only go out here. For example, solving and solving the problem with China, that has a huge effect on the United States. Making deals with Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, all these countries, you’re talking about billions and billions of dollars. So you could… I guess you could say let’s not deal with anyone. We wouldn’t have much of a country,” Trump told Politico.

Although Trump has praised his economic plans, a recent Gallup poll It 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 cost-of-living concerns after the November election, in which voters in New Jersey, Virginia and New York City rejected the president’s agenda.

In the weeks that followed, the Trump administration made changes to its economic plans, including reducing tariffs on some food imports in an attempt to lower grocery prices and the idea of ​​a 50-year mortgage.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Tuesday morning that Trump “is going to give a positive, economically focused speech” in Pennsylvania and called on Republicans to “be more vocal in touting the achievements of this administration.”

White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles said Trump will campaign for Republican candidates in the midterms “as if it were 2024 again.”

“The president started raising money for the midterm elections the day after the election, and is sitting on a huge war chest to help these people. And he will use it, and he will use himself, and he will use the money he has raised, probably his money too, and no one will be able to outwork him. so there’s a lot of reasons to be confident, but we really have to do it,” Wiles said on “The Mom View” podcast Monday.