On February 19, 2026, President Donald Trump took center stage at the Coosa Steel Corporation in Rome, Georgia, delivering a characteristically energetic hour-long speech that put the economy—and his administration’s handling of it—front and center ahead of the critical midterm elections. With banners emblazoned with “Jobs! Jobs! Jobs!” as his backdrop and hundreds of supporters gathering hours before his arrival, Trump sought to rally both his base and wavering voters by touting what he called historic economic milestones and pushing back against persistent concerns about affordability and inflation.
"We have the most people working in history, and just recently, we crossed two milestones," Trump declared, referencing the S&P 500 hitting 7,000 points and the Dow Jones Industrial Average surpassing 50,000. According to Georgia Recorder, he framed these achievements as proof of his administration’s economic prowess—milestones that, he claimed, many thought "totally impossible." Yet, even as he celebrated these numbers, Trump dismissed Democratic criticism about ongoing affordability issues, calling them "a con job." He insisted, "We inherited a mess with high prices and high inflation, and we’ve turned it around, and we’ve made it great."
Trump’s Georgia visit was more than a victory lap; it was a calculated political maneuver. The event coincided with the start of early voting in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, a seat left vacant after Marjorie Taylor Greene’s retirement in January. Nearly 20 candidates are vying for the heavily conservative district in a special election set for March 10. Trump threw his weight behind Republican Clay Fuller, a former district attorney and Air National Guard lieutenant colonel, reiterating at the rally that Fuller had his "complete and total endorsement." He also endorsed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones for governor, pointedly noting Jones’s loyalty compared to new, wealthy entrants to the race. "Burt Jones has been here and been with you and been with me right from the beginning. He’s been with me for so long, right from literally the first day," Trump said, taking a jab at health care executive Rick Jackson, whose late entry into the gubernatorial race had stirred up the contest.
The president’s remarks in Rome were just the latest in a series of domestic trips—recent stops in Iowa and Michigan had featured similar themes—intended to shore up support in battleground states and reinforce his message on economic issues. According to PBS NewsHour, Trump’s focus on affordability and economic optimism is expected to feature heavily in his upcoming State of the Union address, scheduled for late February. The White House has made it clear that affordability—across energy, housing, health care, fuel, and groceries—is the number one issue for Republicans heading into the midterms.
Yet, despite the administration’s efforts to trumpet positive economic data, public sentiment tells a more complicated story. Inflation, while down to 2.4% in January from 2.7% in December, still means consumers are paying higher prices for many goods than before the pandemic. A Pew Research Center poll published in early February found that just 28% of Americans rated the economy as good or excellent, while a striking 72% described it as fair or poor. Furthermore, 52% of respondents said Trump’s policies had made the economy worse. A separate FOX News poll cited by PBS NewsHour showed that 59% of Americans disapproved of Trump’s handling of the economy, and 68% felt he was not spending enough time on economic issues.
These numbers haven’t gone unnoticed inside the White House. According to reporting from PBS NewsHour, Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, convened a closed-door strategy session earlier in the week to ensure that Republicans—both within the administration and among outside allies—were united on the affordability message. Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair and longtime pollster Tony Fabrizio joined Wiles in underscoring the importance of focusing on pocketbook issues, especially as the administration recognized that, after more than a year in office, blaming the prior administration for economic woes was losing its resonance. The plan, according to insiders, is to get Cabinet members out across the country to amplify these themes and to coordinate messaging tightly in the run-up to November.
Trump’s speech in Georgia also included moments of unscripted candor and political showmanship. He invited several Republican politicians to join him on stage, including Congressmen Mike Collins, Barry Loudermilk, and Brian Jack, though he stopped short of endorsing a candidate in the race to face Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff in November. He also didn’t shy away from taking swipes at Democrats, accusing them of "hiking prices, the grocery bills, power bills, health care bills," and benefiting only "billionaires and big corporations." Georgia Democratic Party chairman Charlie Bailey countered, "His family’s made money, his buddies and the billionaires and big corporations, they’ve made money. They’re doing real well. If you’re one of those, you’re getting off real well in Donald Trump’s economy."
For all the focus on economic talking points, the political stakes in Georgia—and nationally—are high. The Republican majority in the House is razor-thin, with just a four-seat margin. As PBS NewsHour noted, this slim majority makes the midterms crucial for Trump’s legislative agenda and, not incidentally, his own political survival. Trump himself has warned supporters that a Democratic takeover could reignite impeachment efforts or stall his priorities. "You have got to win the midterms, because, if we don’t win the midterms, it’s going to be—I mean, they’re going to find a reason to impeach me," he reportedly told Republicans in recent speeches.
Meanwhile, Democrats are seizing on economic malaise and discontent with aggressive immigration enforcement as potential levers for a "blue wave" in November. They hope that dissatisfaction with the status quo will help them capture the Senate seat held by Jon Ossoff and the governor’s mansion, among other offices. The outcome in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, particularly whether Trump-endorsed Clay Fuller prevails over grassroots favorite Colton Moore and a crowded Republican field, could offer a preview of the power of Trump’s endorsement and the shape of the Republican Party’s future in the state. As Emory University political scientist Andra Gillespie put it to Georgia Recorder, "The big question will be, does the MAGA wing of the Georgia Republican party align with the Trump-endorsed candidate? Or does Colton Moore in particular have enough of a base and enough of a following that he might be able to attract a sizable portion of the electorate just on the strength of his own personality?"
As Trump continues his tour of key states and ramps up messaging on affordability in anticipation of the State of the Union, the battle lines for November’s midterms are being drawn ever more sharply. Both parties are betting that their narrative on the economy will resonate with voters whose patience—and budgets—have been stretched thin. The coming months will reveal whether Trump’s economic pitch can overcome public skepticism and deliver the electoral results he’s banking on.