(The Center Square) – As the dust settles from President Donald Trump’s latest romp to the Keystone State, it’s unclear how much positive influence he will exert down ballot come midterms, especially when he isn’t on the ticket.
It’s especially salient in a Monroe County, where the president visited Mount Airy Casino Resort to talk “lower prices and bigger paychecks” on Tuesday. The swing distrct flipped blue to red in 2024 and is home to many voters won over by the administration’s “lower prices and bigger paychecks” rhetoric.
Represented by Republican U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan, a freshman Republican in Congress who spoke at the rally, Democrats have targeted his seat as among those possible to win back in 2026, as they rail against higher prices they blame on the administration’s tariffs.
Locals at the rally and on the stage were undeterred, it appeared.
Lori Tietjen, a local Trump supporter, told The Center Square the event was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her. Although splitting her time between Pennsylvania and Florida has given her many chances to attend rallies, this was the first time she was able to see Trump in person.
Tietjen said she was there to support her president and make it known that Monroe County is for him.
“I love the job he’s doing and continue to look forward to some positive changes,” she said.
Donna Zajac, a single mom and career waitress, was one of several local workers who spoke at the event.
She told the crowd that the “no tax on tips” policy would benefit her because almost everything she earns now goes towards paying bills, but next year will be different. She plans on using some of that extra money to help pay for her daughter’s veterinary school tuition.
Other speakers throughout the evening reinforced those “positive changes” while drawing sharp contrasts with the previous administration, which many blamed for higher prices and crime, the border crisis, and climate change policies.
U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright portrayed former President Joe Biden’s term as a costly anti-energy era that fueled inflation and weakness, while casting the current administration as pro-fossil fuel and delivering record-high oil and natural gas output, lower energy prices, and a stronger base for AI, industry and jobs – especially in Pennsylvania.
“Soon we will start to see downward pressure on electricity prices,” Wright said.
Scott Bessent, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, framed Trump’s program overall as ushering in a “golden age economy” that lowers prices, raises wages, and makes America affordable again.
The previous administration made life “impossibly expensive” through a “toxic mix” of immigration, interest rates, and inflation, asserted Bessent.
“Pennsylvanians elected President Trump for a second term because they had enough of the ‘President for America last,'” he said.
He added that “Biden and his auto pen were the chief architects of the worst inflation in a generation,” claiming that 42% of it was triggered by runaway deficit spending.
Pointing to what he described as the bond market’s strongest year since 2020, Bessent said he expects 2026 to be even better as the administration works to reduce Treasury borrowing costs – a shift he argued would lower mortgage rates, car payments and credit card bills, translating to greater buying power for Americans.
“My favorite word is tariff,” Trump said several times, describing how they raise large revenues from foreign countries that he said have aided farmers, will protect the steel industry, and drive investment and reshoring of manufacturing.
But those same tariffs have sparked uncertainty among Americans, according to The Center Square’s Voters Voice Poll released earlier this year.
Conducted by Noble Predictive Insights, TCS surveyed 2,565 registered voters from Oct. 2-6, 2025, via opt-in online panel and text-to-web cell phone messages.
The poll found that 15% of registered voters cited price increases and inflation as their top issues, followed by government corruption (13%), the economy/jobs (11%), health care (9%), illegal immigration (8%), and crime/violence (7%).
“Name anything that’s getting less expensive,” pollster Mike Noble told The Center Square. “Literally everything is going up from insurance premiums to you name it. More and more is coming out of pocket.”
Better-than-expected inflation levels, however, ushered in a third cut in the federal rate on Wednesday.
