President Donald Trump will road-test his claims that he's tackling Americans' affordability woes at a Tuesday rally in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania — shifting an argument made in Oval Office appearances and social media posts to a campaign-style event.

The trip comes as polling consistently shows that public trust in Trump's economic leadership has faltered.

Following dismal results for Republicans in last month's off-cycle elections, the White House has sought to convince voters that the economy will emerge stronger next year and that any anxieties over inflation have nothing to do with Trump.

The president has consistently blamed his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, for inflation even as his own aggressive implementation of policies has pushed up prices that had been settling down after spiking in 2022 to a four-decade high.

Inflation began to accelerate after Trump announced his sweeping "Liberation Day" tariffs in April.

Companies warned that the import taxes could be passed along to consumers in the form of higher prices and reduced hiring, yet Trump maintains that inflation has faded.

"We're bringing prices way down," Trump said at the White House on Monday.

"You can call it 'affordability' or anything you want — but the Democrats caused the affordability problem, and we're the ones that are fixing it."

The president's reception in the county hosting his Tuesday rally could give a signal of just how much voters trust his claims.

Monroe County flipped to Trump in the 2024 election after having backed 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 largely relied on tourism for skiing, hiking, hunting, and other activities as a source of jobs.

Its proximity to New York City — under two hours by car — has also attracted people seeking more affordable housing.

But what seems undeniable — even to Trump supporters in Monroe County — is that inflation seems to be here to stay.

Lou Heddy, a retired maintenance mechanic who voted for Trump last year, said he's noticed in the past month alone that his and his wife's grocery bills have risen from $175 to $200.

"Once the prices get up for food, they don't ever come back down.

"That's just the way I feel. I don't know how the hell he would do it," said Heddy, 72.

But Suzanne Vena, a Democrat voter, blames Trump's tariffs for making life more expensive, as she struggles with rising bills for food, rent, and electricity on a fixed income. She remembers Trump saying that he would stop inflation.

"That's what we were originally told," said Vena, 66.

"Did I believe it? That's another question. I did not."

The area Trump is visiting could help decide control of the House in next year's midterm elections.

Trump is holding his rally in a congressional district held by first-term Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan, who is a top target of Democrats and won his 2024 race by about 1.5 percentage points, among the nation's closest. 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 criticize Bresnahan for his stock trading while in Congress and suggest that Trump has not, as promised, addressed double-dealing in Washington.

It's not clear if Trump can motivate voters in Monroe County to show up in next year's election if they're worried about inflation.

Nick Riley, 38, said he's cutting back on luxuries, like going out to eat, as he absorbs higher bills for food and electricity and is having a hard time finding a good deal on a used car.

Riley voted for Trump in 2020, but he sat out the 2024 election and plans to do so again next year.

"We're all broke. It doesn't matter whether you support Republicans or support Democrats," Riley said.

"We're all broke, and we're all feeling it."

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles said on the online conservative talk show "The Mom View" that Trump would be on the campaign trail next year to engage supporters who otherwise might sit out a congressional race.

Wiles, who helped manage Trump's 2024 campaign, said most administrations try to localize midterm elections and keep the president out of the race, but she intends to do the opposite of that.

"We're actually going to turn that on its head," Wiles said, "and put him on the ballot because so many of those low-propensity voters are Trump voters."

Wiles added, "So I haven't quite broken it to him yet, but he's going to campaign like it's 2024 again."

The challenge for Trump is how to address the concerns of voters about the economy while simultaneously claiming that the economy is enjoying a historic boom.

Asked on a Politico podcast how he'd rate the economy, Trump leaned into grade inflation by answering "A-plus," only to then amend his answer to "A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus."

Trump has said he's giving consumers relief by relaxing fuel efficiency standards for autos and signing agreements to reduce list prices on prescription drugs.

Trump has also advocated for cuts to the Federal Reserve's benchmark interest rate — which influences the supply of money in the U.S. economy.

He argues that would reduce the cost of mortgages and auto loans, although critics warn that cuts of the scale sought by Trump could instead worsen inflation.

The U.S. economy has shown signs of resilience with the stock market up this year and overall growth looking solid for the third quarter.

But many Americans see the prices of housing, groceries, education, electricity, and other basic needs as swallowing up their incomes, a dynamic that the Trump administration has said it expects to fade next year with more investments in artificial intelligence and manufacturing.

After Democrats won key races in November with a focus on kitchen table issues, Trump has often dismissed concerns about prices as a "hoax" and a "con job" to suggest that he bears no responsibility for inflation, even though he campaigned on his ability to quickly bring down prices.

Just 33% of U.S. adults approve of Trump's handling of the economy, according to a November survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.