On Tuesday, December 9, 2025, President Donald Trump took the stage at the Mount Airy Casino Resort in Paradise Township, Monroe County, Pennsylvania, determined to convince voters he’s the man to fix the nation’s affordability crisis. The rally, which began at 6 p.m., was more than just a campaign stop—it was a litmus test for Trump’s economic message in a county that has become emblematic of America’s shifting political and financial anxieties.
Monroe County, nestled in the scenic Pocono Mountains and known for its tourism and proximity to New York City, has experienced its share of economic whiplash. After backing Joe Biden in 2020, the county flipped to Trump in 2024, helping secure his return to the White House. But even among Trump’s supporters, skepticism about the president’s promises to tame inflation and lower costs is palpable.
“Once the prices get up for food, they don’t ever come back down. That’s just the way I feel. I don’t know how the hell he would do it,” said Lou Heddy, a 72-year-old retired maintenance mechanic who voted for Trump last year, in an interview with the Associated Press. Heddy and his wife have seen their monthly grocery bills jump from $175 to $200 in just a month—a trend echoed by many local families.
Trump’s message at the rally was clear: he claims Democrats created the affordability crisis, but he’s the one fixing it. “We’re bringing prices way down. You can call it ‘affordability’ or anything you want—but the Democrats caused the affordability problem, and we’re the ones that are fixing it,” Trump declared at the White House the day before his Pennsylvania visit, according to the Associated Press.
Yet the numbers tell a more complicated story. Polling consistently shows that public trust in Trump’s economic leadership has eroded. Just 33% of U.S. adults approve of his handling of the economy, according to a November 2025 survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. A RealClearPolitics average from early December pegged disapproval of Trump’s inflation response at 62.2%, with only 34.8% approving.
Some of the blame, critics argue, lies with Trump’s own policies. Inflation, which spiked to a four-decade high in 2022, began accelerating again after Trump announced his sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs in April 2025. Companies warned that these import taxes would be passed on to consumers, resulting in higher prices and reduced hiring. Despite this, Trump continues to insist that inflation has faded, even going so far as to call affordability concerns a “Democrat hoax” during a December 3 Oval Office event, as reported by Roll Call.
“Just about everything is down,” Trump said at the event. “They use the word affordability. It’s a Democrat hoax. They’re the ones that drove the prices up.”
That dismissal hasn’t sat well with everyone—including some in Trump’s own party. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a longtime Trump ally, publicly rebuked the president’s characterization of affordability as a hoax. “Affordability is a real issue,” Greene told CBS’ “60 Minutes.” “It’s one of the top issues. Not only in my district, it’s across the country.” Trump shot back on his Truth Social platform, labeling Greene a “traitor” and questioning her loyalty to his movement.
Other Republicans, like Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, have acknowledged the long-term nature of the affordability problem. “In a macro-sense, there’s not much with a specific piece of legislation or an [executive order]. What he can do is try not to overregulate the economy. Spur as much competition in our economy as possible—that impacts prices. Stop deficit spending, which devalues our currency,” Johnson said, as reported by Roll Call.
Democratic lawmakers, meanwhile, see the affordability issue as a political opportunity. After key wins in November’s off-year elections and a strong showing in a recent House special election in Tennessee, Democrats are hammering away at what they describe as Republican inaction. “The speaker of the House is more interested in staying on Donald Trump’s Christmas card list than he is in making sure that millions of people have more money in their pockets and savings accounts,” Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts told Roll Call. Rep. James E. Clyburn of South Carolina echoed the sentiment, saying, “For 10 years, I’ve heard about a plan. Well, I’ve never seen a plan, all right?”
Speaker Mike Johnson, however, maintains that Republicans are “dialed in like a laser” on affordability. He told Politico that voters haven’t yet felt the benefits of the massive tax and spending law Republicans enacted in summer 2025, but predicted that “by the middle of 2026, there’s going to be boats rising in the economy, this is going to be a very different situation before we go into the election cycle.”
The rally’s location was no accident. Monroe County is split between Pennsylvania’s 7th and 8th congressional districts, both battlegrounds in next year’s midterms. Trump’s event was held in the district of first-term Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan, who won his 2024 race by a razor-thin 1.5 percentage points and is a top target for Democrats in 2026. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee even ran digital ads during Trump’s visit, criticizing Bresnahan for stock trading in Congress and questioning Trump’s commitment to tackling “double-dealing” in Washington.
Security at the event was tight, with the Pennsylvania State Police assisting the United States Secret Service. Motorists were warned to expect delays and road closures around Mount Pocono and neighboring townships—a small price to pay, perhaps, for a glimpse of the president and a chance to hear his pitch on prices.
Trump’s economic record is a study in contrasts. He touts a historic boom, pointing to a rising stock market and robust third-quarter growth in 2025. On a December 3 Politico podcast, Trump rated the economy “A-plus,” only to upgrade it moments later to “A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus.” He’s relaxed fuel efficiency standards for cars, signed agreements to reduce prescription drug prices, and called for deep cuts to the Federal Reserve’s interest rate—a move he argues would make mortgages and car loans more affordable, though critics warn it could fuel further inflation.
But for many Americans, the reality at the checkout line and in monthly bills tells a different story. The cost of housing, groceries, education, electricity, and other essentials continues to eat into household budgets. “We’re all broke. It doesn’t matter whether you support Republicans or support Democrats,” said Nick Riley, a local resident who voted for Trump in 2020 but has since sat out the elections. “We’re all broke, and we’re all feeling it.”
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles told “The Mom View,” a conservative talk show, that Trump will campaign vigorously in the 2026 midterms to mobilize supporters who might otherwise stay home. “We’re actually going to turn that on its head,” Wiles said, “and put him on the ballot because so many of those low-propensity voters are Trump voters.”
As both parties gear up for the 2026 elections, the battle over affordability is sure to intensify. With Monroe County as a microcosm of the nation’s economic and political struggles, the stakes have rarely felt higher. Whether Trump’s message resonates—or falls flat—could help determine not just the outcome in Pennsylvania, but the direction of the country in the years to come.
