President Donald Trump will gather with House Republicans on Tuesday to ensure they're aligned on their agenda at the start of a critical midterm election year that could alter the course of his final two years in office. GOP lawmakers are hosting a daylong policy forum at the Kennedy Center, the performing arts venue on the other side of Washington from the Capitol. Its board, which is stacked with Trump loyalists, recently voted to rename it the Trump Kennedy Center, though that move is being challenged in court.
Trump said 1.45 million military service members would get the warrior dividend before Christmas. The checks are already on the way, he said. Yet his bonus payments for the troops come as millions of Americans are fretting about the costs of groceries, housing, utilities and their holiday gifts as inflation remains elevated and the labor market has meaningfully weakened in recent months.
President Donald Trump's administration has been embroiled in scandal and sloppiness. His own party has defied his political pressure. His senior staff has been beset by infighting. He has sparred with reporters and offered over-the-top praise to an authoritarian with a dire human-rights record. A signature hard-line immigration policy has polled poorly. And Republicans have begun to brace themselves for a disastrous midterm election.
Donald Trump himself alternates between claiming he's already pushed the cost of living way down and publicly mulling ways to convince Americans to feel better about their ability to make ends meet. Obviously Republicans need to improve the president's sinking job-approval numbers in anticipation of high-stakes midterm elections. But more immediately, the GOP must decide how to deal with the health-insurance "cliff" it created by failing to extend Obamacare premium subsidies in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
We will be issuing dividends later on probably the middle of next year, a little bit later than that, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday. Thousands of dollars for individuals of moderate income, middle income. Last week, the president claimed that the checks, which require congressional approval, would be sent out next year. Trump said the idea is to give Americans the tariff money that has been collected on imports.
Contrary to all credible reports, Donald Trump continues to claim the economy is thriving and that everyday necessities are becoming more affordable. But according to CNN's chief data analyst Harry Enten, Americans aren't buying it. Enten cited a University of Michigan poll that showed consumer sentiment regarding current conditions is at its worst ever, dating back to 1951. "This is record-breaking in the way you don't want to be breaking records," Enten said, adding that the number is "down 30% since January, when Donald Trump took office."
Voter anger over the cost of living is hurtling forward into next year's midterm elections, when pivotal contests will be decided by communities that are home to fast-rising electric bills or fights over who's footing the bill to power Big Tech's energy-hungry data centers. Electricity costs were a key issue in this week's elections for governor in New Jersey and Virginia, a data center hotspot, and in Georgia, where Democrats ousted two Republican incumbents for seats on the state's utility regulatory commission.
I can't see into the future, but I see Republicans losing the House if Americans are continuing to go paycheck-to-paycheck, the Georgia congresswoman told the outlet. Pointing to record-high credit card debt among voters as evidence of economic strain, she added: They'll definitely be going into the midterms looking through the lens of their bank account. During the interview, Greene also condemned House Republicans' repeated failure to pass appropriation bills and refusal to negotiate health care reforms without tying them to government funding battles.