US President Donald Trump insisted Tuesday that prices were falling "tremendously" for Americans in a rambling campaign-style rally that was meant to address mounting anger over the cost of living.
Speaking at a casino in the blue-collar state of Pennsylvania, Trump was taking his economic message on the road for the first time in months as his approval ratings slump ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
But the 79-year-old also weaved through a host of topics familiar from last year's presidential run, including inflammatory rhetoric on migration and swipes at what he called "shithole" countries.
The second-term president has angrily rejected what he calls a "hoax" by rival Democrats on affordability, but he has shown signs that he realizes the issue is hurting Republicans ahead of the midterms.
Instead, the billionaire former reality TV star is trying to convince voters that inflation is the fault of his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden -- and that he alone can fix it.
"I can't say affordability 'hoax', because I agree the prices were too high," Trump told the audience at a rural casino in Mount Pocono, Pennyslvania.
"But they use the word affordability, and that's their only word. They say affordability and everyone says, 'oh, that must mean Trump has high prices.' No, our prices are coming down tremendously from the highest prices in the history of our country."
Trump insists prices are falling for gas and for key consumer goods like beef, eggs and coffee, even though US inflation accelerated in September to 2.8 percent on an annual basis.
- Migration rhetoric -
Supporters who lined up in the biting cold to see him said they were worried about prices but backed Trump to tackle the problem.
"You know he can't fix all that in under a year," Brianna Shay, 26, told AFP.
Much of Trump's focus on Tuesday however seemed to be heated remarks about immigration, the issue that drove his election wins in 2016 and 2024 and has seen him launch a major crackdown since his return to power.
Trump repeatedly lashed out once again at Somali immigrants, including Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, and the country of Somalia itself, which he described as "filthy, dirty, disgusting."
He has ramped up his rhetoric on the subject as a scandal unfolds in the state of Minnesota where prosecutors say more than $1 billion went to non-existent social services, largely through false billing by Somali Americans.
Trump also boasted about halting all migration from a number of countries including Afghanistan, Haiti and Somalia.
"I didn't say shithole, you did," Trump said to an audience member, referring to an incident in his first term where he used the term during a White House event when he said he wanted to limit migration from certain countries.
The focus on migration was a return to Trump's comfort zone amid the growing discontent about the economy, which Americans have blamed at least partly on his sweeping tariffs.
- 'America first' -
In a Politico interview published earlier Tuesday, Trump said he would give the economy an "A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus" rating.
But Trump's approval ratings have fallen to their lowest point since his return to office in January.
Democrats campaigning on affordability swept elections last month for New York City mayor, and for the governors of New Jersey and Virginia.
Republicans are now looking increasingly nervously at next year's midterm elections, when control of Congress will be up for grabs.
The parties of incumbent US presidents often take a beating in the midterms, but Trump's chief of staff Susie Wiles said Monday she intended to "put him on the ballot" to get out loyal voters who might otherwise stay away.
Yet Trump also faces growing dissent from within his "Make America Great Again" movement, with calls for him to focus on the economy instead of foreign peace deals.
Former close ally Marjorie Taylor Greene, who broke with Trump in November, said the president had failed to focus on affordability.
"For an 'America First' president, the number one focus should have been domestic policy, and it wasn't," Greene told the CBS News show "60 Minutes" in an interview that aired Sunday.
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