{"id":214725,"date":"2026-06-24T13:58:43","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T13:58:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trump-touts-u-s-economy-and-oil-prices-in-a-midterm-pitch-in-pennsylvania-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T13:58:43","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T13:58:43","slug":"trump-touts-u-s-economy-and-oil-prices-in-a-midterm-pitch-in-pennsylvania-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trump-touts-u-s-economy-and-oil-prices-in-a-midterm-pitch-in-pennsylvania-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump touts U.S. economy and oil prices in a midterm pitch in Pennsylvania – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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MACUNGIE, Pa. \u2014 Speaking in a key Pennsylvania swing district on Tuesday, President Donald Trump sought to reassure voters that costs are coming down and that they are better off than they were two years ago.
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After the war with Iran helped drive up energy prices, and with them the cost of household goods and groceries, Trump touted the price of oil dropping to a recent low as markets surged. U.S. crude closed at $73.21 Tuesday, just $6.19 higher than the day before the U.S. struck Iran<\/a>.
\u201cThat oil is going to come charging down. And with oil comes everything else,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n

Trump delivered his remarks, billed as a speech focused on American workers and the cost of living, at a massive Mack Trucks manufacturing facility here in Pennsylvania\u2019s Lehigh Valley, an area critical to Republican hopes of maintaining control of Congress in November\u2019s midterm elections.
Jobs are surging in the Lehigh Valley, Trump told the crowd, with more auto plants under construction. Trump said the administration had created 32,000 new jobs in Pennsylvania, with pharmaceutical, medical device and other companies building manufacturing facilities in the area. He cited his tax cuts and efforts to lower prescription drug prices, saying each \u201calone should win us the midterms.\u201d
Trump touted what he said were the economic benefits from the peace agreement that his administration is working to cement with Tehran. And he defended his overseas efforts, saying he\u2019d successfully stood up to \u201ctrade cheaters\u201d with his tariffs to protect American jobs.
\u201cAnd now I\u2019m standing up again because Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,\u201d Trump said. \u201cI placed 50% tariffs on foreign copper, aluminum and steel, so they couldn\u2019t come in and steal your job, and sometimes even more than 100% tariffs. They weren\u2019t going to come in from foreign lands and steal your jobs.\u201d
The president also made repeated pitches for passing the SAVE America Act<\/a>, <\/em>a sweeping voter ID bill and chief legislative priority of his second term,<\/em> including riffing on a recent election in California before calling for the law to be passed. It is currently stalled in the Senate.
Trump urged voters to back Rep. Ryan Mackenzie of Pennsylvania, who represents Macungie and is one of four Pennsylvania Republicans whom Democrats are targeting to win the House majority this fall. The president\u2019s supporters lined up for over half a mile in the pouring rain.
\u201cThey want to hear that the economy is going to grow again,\u201d John McLaughlin, the president\u2019s pollster, said. \u201cYou have a lot of working- and middle-class voters who have felt that they\u2019ve been exploited for decades. It\u2019s about economic growth.\u201d
\u201cThey could feel better,\u201d he added. \u201cBut the president\u2019s not on the ballot in November, and Republicans need to get behind his agenda.\u201d
\u201cIf you can grow the economy, small business will grow, jobs will stay in America, and they will benefit,\u201d McLaughlin said. \u201cBut they want to be able to see that. \u2026 If you don\u2019t have a growing economy, it makes it very hard to hold your majorities.\u201d
That\u2019s likely to come up Wednesday, when Trump visits Capitol Hill to speak to Senate Republicans at their weekly lunch. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said he had a list of things that Senate Republicans would like to accomplish with Trump ahead of November that \u201cwill enable us to take an argument to the American people that will persuade them that they want to keep majorities here in Congress.\u201d
Also expected to come up is the SAVE America Act, which Republicans have so far been unable to pass amid Democratic opposition and despite Trump\u2019s repeated calls to do so.
Ahead of Trump\u2019s remarks, attendees said they wished to hear more from him about his efforts to bring down prices. Many were broadly supportive of his efforts in office, saying they were willing to give the president more time, including on the Iran war, as the administration works to negotiate a ceasefire between Washington and Tehran.
Jason Banonis, an attorney who attended the speech, said he doesn\u2019t mind if the U.S. has to strike Iran again. \u201cI trust the president,\u201d Banonis said, adding that he believes the cost of goods will come down once the conflict resolves.
But Banonis, who has two sons ages 18 and 20, said that while people are feeling better about the economy, he hoped the president would deliver a message to Americans on how he plans to bring prices down further.
As for Republicans in the midterms, he said, \u201cTrump is not on the ballot \u2014 that\u2019s a concern.\u201d
Complicating that picture is the Iran war, now into its fourth month, with negotiations underway this week in Switzerland to keep open a vital shipping waterway and bring the conflict to a close. The war has driven up gas prices and economic uncertainty heading into the summer. And while a fragile truce is underway, the president has threatened to restart combat operations if he does not see the progress he is hoping for in negotiations, saying Tuesday that if they are not reasonable, \u201cwe\u2019ll have to finish the job.\u201d
That would take \u201cabout maybe less than a week,\u201d the president added.
Ben Coombs, 30, a production team leader at Mack Trucks, said before the speech that he hoped to hear Trump lay out plans to help stop manufacturers from moving their operations to Mexico. He said the hit on the economy is being felt locally and blamed the price of diesel going up and consumer confidence dropping, which he said had hurt orders of the company\u2019s trucks.
When asked about the president\u2019s efforts to end the Iran war, he responded, \u201cThe war didn\u2019t have to happen.\u201d
When asked what he thought were the risks for Republicans heading into the midterm elections, Coombs cited his disappointment with Republicans\u2019 handling of the Epstein files, documents related to investigations into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. \u201cThe Epstein files crushed my hopes,\u201d he said, adding that he \u201cwould have liked to see people held accountable.\u201d
Jim Vinup, another attendee, said he wanted to see movement on the SAVE Act. \u201cThe Senate and the House has to get together and do that,\u201d Vinup said. \u201cI really want to see that bill go through.\u201d
He said he was pleased with Trump\u2019s handling of the Iran war and urged critics to cut him slack after just 18 months in office, saying \u201cit\u2019s only a matter of time\u201d until gas prices fall back down.
As for Iran, rallygoer Rhonda Butz said, \u201cthey cannot have the bomb.\u201d
McLaughlin said the president\u2019s record in recent primary elections shows his base of support is still strong, including in Kentucky, where a Trump-endorsed candidate toppled Rep. Thomas Massie \u2014 the lead Republican on legislation to release the Epstein files, who frequently broke with Trump \u2014 after 14 years in office.
The challenge is ensuring Trump\u2019s voters turn out in November, in an election where he will not be on the ballot, and independent voters remain motivated. \u201cThey are looking at the next election and saying, \u2018What are you going to do to make my life better?\u2019\u201d McLaughlin said.
Katherine Doyle is a White House reporter for NBC News.
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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