Trump Risks Electoral Fallout by Telling Struggling Voters That Everything's Fine

FOR a brief moment, it was as if the last year never happened.

was on the stump in the bellwether swing state of Pennsylvania, addressing a rally of cheering red-capped fans.

Harry says President Trump is waltzing to a cost-of-living mid-term disaster Speaking in the swing state of Pennsylvania, the President declared that prices were not a real problem and dismissed the Washington buzzword of ‘affordability’ a Democrat ‘hoax’Credit: Reuters

And as so often during last year’s election, it was a typically sprawling 90-minute run around his favourite topics.

All the greatest hits were there — , more threats to Venezuela and hosing down his doddery predecessor , who got both his “Sleepy Joe” and “Crooked Joe” nicknames.

Just one small problem, however, was it had been billed as a big, bold, economically muscular speech about .

Yet instead of leaning into the issue that is quite literally draining American voters’ wallets, the President declared that prices were not a real problem any more and dismissed the buzzword of “affordability” as another Democrat “hoax”.

Wake-up call

“I haven’t read practically anything off the stupid teleprompter,” Trump chuckled halfway through his monologue.

When he did get to the topic advisers are trying to get him to focus on after a number of electoral blows, the President grandly graded the US economy “A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus”.

“I have no higher priority than making America affordable again,” he insisted.

“They caused high prices, and we’re bringing them down.”

Here’s the problem: You can’t tell people drowning in bills that everything’s rosy.

Working Americans, like Brits, are feeling the pain of a cost-of-living saga that seems to never end.

While there is one relief of rock-bottom petrol prices over here, unlike in the UK, the same cannot be said for other major household outgoings.

and fuel prices may be down but eating, clothing, and healthcare bills are huge.

Poll after poll show a brutal reality: Americans feel battered.

Four in ten say it’s the worst they have ever experienced.

And twice as many voters say President Trump, not , is responsible for the current state of the economy.

Despite branding Biden as ‘Sleepy’ it looks increasingly like it is President Trump sleepwalking into an electoral disaster in 2026

That should be a wake-up call for this administration that faces a battle for its survival in next year’s midterm elections.

President Trump 2.0 has been able to move fast and break things, roll back the culture wars, seal the borders from illegal immigrants and deport hundreds of thousands more, because of his iron grip on Washington.

But losing control of Congress next year opens the door to a bitter final two years in office, batting away and inquiry after inquiry into his family business interests and controversial decisions taken in the last 11 months.

The President says midterm losses are “normal”.

But he has smashed his fist back down on the global table, and all that power goes up in smoke if he’s forced to fight tooth and nail to save his legacy back home or anoint a successor.

Despite branding Biden as “Sleepy” it looks increasingly like it is President Trump sleepwalking into an electoral disaster in 2026.

Many voters now say President Trump, not Joe Biden, is responsible for the current state of the economyCredit: Getty

Parts of the Trump orbit seem more excited about trolling political opponents or photo-ops cosplaying.

Meanwhile, his base is tearing itself apart with infighting and scores of Republican politicians are throwing in the towel rather than defending seats next year.

Republican lawmakers say he needs to show the administration is tackling affordability and listening to the concerns of the people who flocked to vote for them.

Voters aren’t insane.

They just want to know someone in Washington lives on the same planet as they do.

There is something the President could do immediately to drive down prices that would also have serious ramifications for the receding UK economy

And when you’re in the White House showing off a new golden mega-ballroom while regular Americans are struggling to pay the bills, the optics ain’t great.

Warning signs are everywhere, like the Democrats winning the mayoralty of Miami for the first time in 28 years, or running the Republicans close in deep-red Tennessee in an area Trump won by 24 points last year.

Ease the burden

There is something the President could do immediately to drive down prices that would also have serious ramifications for the receding .

While it made lots of noise, does not appear to be working.

Prices are rising in the US as consumers bear the brunt.

Meanwhile, the promised surge in US manufacturing has not materialised.

Trump defended his import taxes raid this week, urging the public to stop buying cheap Chinese goods.

But rather than chide the voters, it’s within his power to pull levers to ease the burden on their wallets.

The President may yet come to regret branding affordability a hoax when his enemies are circling after 2026, when they could yet still be stopped at the ballot box.

FOR a country that likes to lecture others on free speech, I was surprised to hear new plans drawn up by the US Department for Homeland Security, meaning any visitor to America must cough up FIVE YEARS of social media history for inspection.

Thankfully, the expensive and unwieldy policy is unlikely to be up and running by next summer’s World Cup co-hosted in the US  . . . and there was me thinking my late-night tweets would only be a problem back home in Blighty.

When it comes to Ukraine, the cheek of some continentals is staggering as European support in 2025 is set to drop to its lowest level since the outbreak of warCredit: Reuters

ANOTHER week and more whingeing from European leaders as they reel from once again being told to pay up or pipe down by their American security underwriters.

When it comes to , the cheek of some continentals is staggering as European support in 2025 is set to drop to its lowest level since the outbreak of war.

Yes, has nearly tripled its average monthly support and and Britain have more than doubled theirs, says the Kiel Institute, which monitors these things.

But that only sounds impressive until you realise all three remain far behind the Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden – when you measure aid relative to .

They live on the front line of Russian aggression while southern Europeans snooze in the afternoon in comfort.

Take Italy and Spain – two of the continent’s largest economies that enjoy every possible benefit of European peace and prosperity.

Italy has reduced its already meagre allocation by 15 per cent this year.

While the tight-fisted leftists running Spain have not recorded a single euro of new military aid in 2025. Nada!