By Steve Holland
ROCKY MOUNT, North Carolina, Dec 19 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump traveled to the battleground state of North Carolina on Friday, where he sought to convince Americans that his handling of the economy is sound ahead of a midterm election that could spell trouble for him and his ruling Republicans.
“Yesterday, it was announced that inflation is far lower than anybody expected,” Trump told the audience after the government reported that consumer prices rose 2.7% in November from the same period last year. “I told you!”
With prices increasing and unemployment up, Trump has his work cut out for him. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday showed just 33% of U.S. adults approve of how Trump has handled the economy.
Trump argued that the economy is poised for a surge due to his policies and that any problems people are experiencing are the fault of the Democrats.
He contends that he has lowered the price of gasoline, imposed tariffs that are generating billions of dollars for the U.S. Treasury and attracted hundreds of billions of dollars in investment pledges by foreign governments.
Republicans worry, however, that economic woes could jeopardize their chances in elections next November that will decide whether they will keep control of the House of Representatives and the Senate for the remaining two years of Trump’s term.
Democrats have argued that Trump himself has bungled the economy, the central issue he campaigned on last year.
The setting for Trump’s remarks is Rocky Mount, North Carolina. The city is represented by a Democrat in the House, Don Davis, who faces a tough re-election fight in 2026 after the boundaries of his congressional district were redrawn. The state is also hosting a key 2026 Senate race that is expected to be close.
North Carolina is considered a swing state because its statewide elections are closely contested between Democrats and Republicans. But Trump won the state in 2016, 2020 and 2024.
The North Carolina event is a stop on the way to his oceanfront Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, where he plans to spend the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.
Trump got some early holiday cheer on Thursday from the Consumer Price Index report for November. It said housing costs rose by the smallest margin in four years. Food costs rose by the least since February. Egg prices – a subject Trump raises regularly – fell for a second month, and by the most in 20 months.
The report nonetheless showed that other prices, such as those for beef and electricity, soared.
(Reporting by Steve Holland; Writing by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Edwina Gibbs, Muralikumar Anantharaman and William Mallard)
