LAS VEGAS — President Trump on Wednesday told a crowd in a casino ballroom that his policies are putting money in their pockets, a message intended for a larger audience of midterm election voters who are dissatisfied with the economy.
His remarks at Red Rock Casino, which sits on the city’s western edge, were aimed at blunting voters’ perception that the economy is bad.
“More Americans are working in the United States right now than at any moment in the history of our country,” Mr. Trump said. “The economy is the greatest economy by far.
“We had the greatest economy in the history of the country during my first term. This is going to blow it away. It already is blowing it away,” he said, noting that the stock market has posted 74 record highs in his second term.
The president’s remarks are part of an aggressive political push by the White House to confront voters’ concerns about the economy and the Iran war, which has entered its sixth month and raised oil and gasoline prices. It was the latest in a series of visits to swing states such as Michigan and Georgia, where he trumpeted new tax cuts and drew sharp contrasts with Democrats’ embrace of socialist policies.
“They want to raise your taxes to levels you’ve never had to pay before,” he said, adding that every Democrat in Congress voted against his tax cuts.
Specifically, Mr. Trump tried to sell voters on the no-tax-on-tips provision in last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act spending package. He also touted other tax cuts in the law, including eliminating taxes on overtime pay and Social Security. He told the crowd his policies are leading to bigger paychecks.
Mr. Trump’s delivered his pitch to voters in a competitive House district, where Republican nominee Marty O’Donnell, a video game designer, is trying to unseat Rep. Susie Lee, a Democrat who is one of the GOP’s top targets in the midterm elections.
Recent polls show Mr. Trump has his work cut out for him, even as signs of a rebounding economy emerge.
Just 32% of U.S. adults approve of Mr. Trump’s handling of the economy, according to an AP-NORC poll released last week. The same poll found that 69% of Americans characterize the state of the economy as “poor,” with a majority saying the cost of everyday essentials such as groceries and gas was a major source of stress in their lives.
Mr. Trump dismissed the polls as “fake.”
“I’m not getting credit from the fake news for what I’ve done,” he said of the economy.
Democrats have seized on voters’ economic woes and are pushing an affordability message in their quest to win back control of Congress.
Sen. Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, said Mr. Trump had unleashed an “economic disaster” on the American people.
“If there’s one place where Americans know how to spot a losing hand, it’s Las Vegas. Donald Trump, they see your losing hand. Nevadans know better than anyone that Trump’s economy has gone bust,” he said on the Senate floor Wednesday.
Despite low public confidence, the U.S. economy shows robust growth, including through consistent consumer spending and strong corporate growth.
James Mohs, professor emeritus of economics at the University of New Haven, said the economy is improving, but emphasized that resolving the Iran war is critical to the economy.
“The price of oil is baked into every product that’s made, transported or anything else, and the more trouble we have in the Middle East, the worse it will get, price-wise,” he said. “But I would argue for patience. There’s too many things in progress that are starting to come to fruition, for instance all the domestic drilling and all this foreign investment in the U.S. like the Saudis are doing.”
The average price of gas was $4.08 per gallon on Wednesday afternoon, according to the AAA auto club. That’s a roughly 20-cent increase from last month and nearly $1 above where it was on the same day last year.
Several key economic indicators show the economy could be roaring in the second half of 2026, countering the pessimistic view of voters.
This week, the Atlanta Federal Reserve forecasted gross domestic product growth to hit 6.2%, up from 5% just last week. The Atlanta Fed predicted the growth will be fueled by increased consumer spending and business investment, both of which it expects to be sharply higher in the second half of the year.
And there are some signs that GDP growth is already happening. Real gross domestic product grew 1.5% in the second quarter, following a 2.1% increase in the first quarter, according to the Treasury Department. The growth was spurred by stronger-than-expected consumer demand and spending and improved inflation numbers.
Consumer prices posted their biggest decline in more than six years in June, according to the Labor Department, lowering inflation to 3.5% from 4.2% in May. That exceeded Wall Street predictions and was the largest monthly decline in inflation since April 2020.
Inflation declined with an unemployment rate of 4.2% in June, a slight decrease from May. Last week saw the lowest number of unemployment filings, 187,000, since September 1969, according to the Labor Department. In addition, wages are outpacing inflation, payroll processing firm ADP found in a report released Wednesday.
Still, the GOP tax cuts don’t impress every voter.
At the Trump event, a Las Vegas resort worker who relies on tips said no-tax-on-tips didn’t help him because high costs reduced tourism in the city, so he’s earning fewer tips than he did just two years ago.
“My tips used to cover a night out with dinner, drinks, entertainment and an Uber home. Now I’m lucky if it’s just dinner,” said Darryl, 36, a Democrat who declined to give his last name.
Others told a different story.
“The off-Strip casinos had record earnings last year, and we just added $7 billion of new convention space in the last seven years. Things are booming here,” said Las Vegas resident Peter Lewis, a Republican. “Probably a third of the people here benefited from no tax on tips. … That could be as much as $25,000 back in their wallet.”
Under the law, workers can deduct a maximum of $25,000 in tip income on federal income taxes.
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