Watch the live stream: Trump talks about the economy at the Pennsylvania rally

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will test his claims that he is addressing Americans’ affordability problems at a rally Tuesday in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania — turning an argument made in his Oval Office appearances and social media posts into a campaign-style event.

The event is scheduled to begin at 6:10 PM ET. Watch the live stream in the player above.

The trip comes as polls consistently show that public confidence in Trump’s economic leadership has faltered. In the wake of disappointing Republican results in last month’s election, the White House has sought to convince voters that the economy will emerge stronger next year and that any concerns about inflation have nothing to do with Trump.

The president has long blamed his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, for inflation, even as his aggressive implementation of policies has sent prices that had been stabilizing after a 2022 spike to their highest level in four decades. Inflation began accelerating after Trump announced his sweeping tariffs on Emancipation Day in April. Businesses have warned that import taxes could be passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices and reduced employment, yet Trump continues to insist that inflation has subsided.

“We are lowering prices significantly,” Trump said at the White House on Monday. “You can call it ‘affordability’ or whatever you want — but Democrats created the affordability problem, and we’re the ones fixing it.”

The president’s reception in the county hosting his rally on Tuesday could give an indication of how much voters trust his claims. Monroe County flipped to Trump in the 2024 election after backing Biden in 2020, helping the Republican win the swing state of Pennsylvania and return to the White House after a four-year hiatus.

As home to the Pocono Mountains, the county has relied largely on tourism for skiing, hiking, hunting and other activities as a source of jobs. Its proximity to New York City—less than a two-hour drive—has also attracted people looking for affordable housing.

It’s also an area that could help determine control of the House in next year’s midterm elections.

Trump is holding his campaign rally in a congressional district controlled by new Republican Representative Rob Bresnahan, a major target for Democrats. He won his 2024 race by about 1.5 percentage points, and is among the closest candidates in the country. Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, a Democrat, is running for the nomination to challenge him.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is running digital ads during Trump’s visit on the Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader website that criticizes Bresnahan for his stock trading while in Congress and suggests that Trump has not addressed double-dealing in Washington as he promised.

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles said on the conservative online talk show “The Mom View” that Trump will be on the “campaign trail” next year to engage supporters who may miss out on the congressional race.

Wiles, who helped run Trump’s 2024 campaign, said most administrations are trying to localize the midterm elections and keep the president out of the race, but she intends to do the opposite.

“We’re going to flip that on its head and put it on the ballot because a lot of these low-propensity voters are Trump voters,” Wiles said.

“So I haven’t fully revealed it to him yet, but he’s going to campaign like it’s 2024 again,” Wells added.

The challenge for Trump is how to address voters’ concerns about the economy while at the same time claiming that the economy is enjoying a historic boom.

Read more: The economy is giving mixed signals. Here’s what experts say they mean

When asked on a Politico podcast how he assessed the economy, Trump turned to inflation by answering “A-plus,” then modified his answer to “A-plus-plus-plus-plus.”

Trump said he is giving consumers relief by relaxing fuel efficiency standards for cars and signing agreements to lower list prices for prescription drugs.

Trump has also called for a cut in the Federal Reserve’s benchmark interest rate – which affects the money supply in the US economy. He says that would reduce the cost of mortgages and auto loans, though critics warn that cuts of the size Trump seeks could instead exacerbate inflation.

The US economy has shown signs of resilience with a stock market rally this year and strong overall growth in the third quarter. But many Americans see the prices of housing, groceries, education, electricity and other basic needs eating up their incomes, a dynamic that the Trump administration said it expects to fade next year with more investments in artificial intelligence and manufacturing.

Since the election in November, when Democrats won key races focusing on kitchen table issues, Trump has often dismissed concerns about prices as a “hoax” and a “hoax” to suggest he bears no responsibility for inflation, even though he campaigned on his ability to quickly lower prices. Only 33% of U.S. adults approve of Trump’s handling of the economy, according to a November poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Levy reported from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.