President Donald Trump is returning to the campaign trail to promote his economic policies after a week consumed by his capture of former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro.
Trump is expected to address the Detroit Economic Club in Michigan on Tuesday with a similar message he had last month in Pennsylvania.
But at least one Republican strategist from Michigan, a battleground state for this year’s midterm elections, is encouraging Trump to “talk less about yesterday’s grievances and more about tomorrow’s paychecks.”
“Michigan voters want lower prices, bigger paychecks, and more manufacturing jobs,” Dennis Lennox, a Republican consultant from Michigan, told the Washington Examiner.
Lennox underscored how midterm elections are “historically difficult for the president’s party,” a phenomenon about which Trump has repeatedly complained.
“In Michigan, everything from an open Senate seat, an open governorship, and the other great offices of state and both houses of the state legislature are on the ballot,” Lennox said. “To the extent that Republicans can counter the trend, they need base voters to feel good about Trump and the economy to get the turnout where it needs to be.”
The strategist added: “Michigan voters are pragmatic. In 12 years we’ve had one Republican governor, one Democratic governor, three competitive Senate races, and two Trump wins. They are less interested in ideology than in whether their paycheck stretches far enough at the end of the month.”
To that end, in addition to the toss-up race to replace retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) in the U.S. Senate, freshman Rep. Tom Barrett’s (R-MI) contest in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District is also considered to be a toss-up, though the incumbent has a slight polling advantage, according to the Cook Political Report.
Elsewhere on the map, the race for now gubernatorial candidate Rep. John James’ (R-MI) open seat in Michigan’s 10th Congressional District is similarly competitive, but leaning toward Republicans as well. Meanwhile, Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet’s (D-MI) race in Michigan’s 8th Congressional District is competitive, but leaning toward Democrats.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday downplayed the likes of Lennox’s concerns after Trump last month in Pennsylvania reiterated his argument that affordability and cost-of-living criticisms of his policies were a “Democratic hoax.”
Instead, Leavitt emphasized how much Trump is “looking forward” to his appearance at the Detroit Economic Club and a tour of a Ford factory in Dearborn, Michigan, that produces F-150 light-duty pick-up trucks.
“My understanding is Ford is ramping up that manufacturing and also going to be hiring more American workers at this facility thanks to President Trump’s policies,” she told reporters.
The press secretary then cited economic data indicating mortgage rates are below 6% for the first time since 2023 and that average gas prices are below $2.79 a gallon for the first time in almost “five years.”
“These were two of the biggest pain points for the American people, as you all know, under the previous administration, gas prices, mortgage rates, interest rates, all things that this administration is committed to seeing fall, in addition to prices,” she said. “We know core inflation is at its lowest point as it has been in five years. And so these economic policies are really coming into fruition. Now that we’re in 2026, we’ll be seeing more tax cuts into the pockets of the American people later this spring as well. So it’s all good news on the economic front.”
In fact, Trump’s speech at the Detroit Economic Club will coincide with the publication of last month’s consumer price index report.
FactSet forecasted on Monday that inflation increased by 0.3% during December 2025 compared to November 2025 and by 2.6% in contrast to December 2024.
FactSet also forecasted core inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.26% during December and 2.6% during the previous year.
A little more than nine months until this year’s midterm elections, Trump’s average economic approval rating is net negative 15 points, according to RealClearPolitics, though his average inflation approval rating is a worse net negative 25.5 points.
Simultaneously, Democrats have an average 5-point edge over Republicans in generic congressional ballot polling, per the same polling aggregator.
Democrats have seized on Trump’s economic record and rhetoric, including last week after last month’s jobs report found the economy added a less-than-anticipated 50,000 positions in December 2025, although unemployment decreased to 4.5%.
“Trump’s trip to Detroit comes just a week after this month’s University of Michigan consumer confidence survey revealed that the share of American consumers who say the government is doing a good job handling inflation and unemployment fell to the lowest point ever recorded,” Democratic National Committee deputy communications director Abhi Rahman said.
At the same time, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), during remarks at the National Press Club Monday, warned Democrats they were “doomed to fail — in 2026, 2028 and beyond” — if they do not embrace more populist economic policies.
“It doesn’t take a political genius to conclude that in a democracy, when the choice is between ‘make the rich richer’ and ‘help everybody else,’ winning elections is about choosing ‘everybody else,’” Warren said.
Regardless, Michigan Republicans, such as Republican strategist Jamie Roe, are eager to see and hear from Trump on Tuesday.
Roe described the timing of Trump’s trip to Michigan as “optimum” before this week’s Detroit Auto Show and after the president repealed former President Joe Biden’s electric vehicle mandate and introduced new car loan tax breaks through his so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
“They have learned to live with the tariff side of it and are adjusting their production,” the consultant told the Washington Examiner of Michigan’s Big Three automakers: General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis. “We’ve seen more jobs coming back here to Southeast Michigan from Mexico, and we’re glad to see it in the domestic auto industry, and I think we’re going to see more of it.”
Roe, who is advising former Republican Michigan Rep. Mike Rogers’ Senate campaign, remained adamant that he is “less concerned” about “the way” Trump “talks about things” than he is “with the results that he’s delivered,” adding, “the results are good.”
“The president is welcome back here as often as he wants to come,” he said. “He is our best turnout driver that we have, electorally, and we’re glad to see him here as often as he wants to come by.”
TRUMP’S FOREIGN POLICY THREATENS GRIP ON CONGRESSIONAL REPUBLICANS
Rather than responding to voters’ economic concerns during his rally in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, Trump last month amplified his complaints about affordability and cost of living that have escalated since last year’s off-year elections as a Democratic “con job.”
“They always have a hoax,” Trump told the crowd at the time in Mount Airy Casino Resort. “The new word is affordability. Democrats talking about affordability is like Bonnie and Clyde preaching about public safety, and they are really the, truly, the enemy of the working class when they do it.”