Trump to pay visit to closely divided Pennsylvania in return to campaigning

By Trevor Hunnicutt and Jarrett Renshaw

June 23 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump returns to the campaign trail for the first time in two weeks on Tuesday, visiting politically divided Pennsylvania to deliver a pitch about the revival of the U.S. Rust Belt to voters feeling inflation’s bite.

Trump is due to visit a Mack Trucks assembly plant in Macungie, Pennsylvania, where he’ll shift gears from Iran and pitch his jobs-and-reindustrialization agenda to factory workers who have formed the base of his “Make America Great Again” political movement.

The U.S. president’s Republican Party is seeking to retain control of Congress in November’s midterm elections. A nearly four-month U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has complicated Trump’s economic message, driving consumer costs up at the fastest rate in three years. The U.S. and Iran are negotiating a potential peace deal in the conflict.

Trump is expected to accentuate the positive, especially a steadily growing U.S. economy, resilient labor market data and the possibility that a future resolution to the war could ease costs.

“Under the President’s leadership, key domestic industries are being revitalized, historic investments are pouring back into communities like Macungie, and families across the country are securing new, high-paying jobs,” said Liz Huston, a White House spokeswoman.

Pennsylvania’s 7th congressional district, spanning the state’s Lehigh Valley, is widely regarded as a toss-up race. The district includes Allentown, the subject of a Billy Joel blue-collar anthem, and its economy has retained a strong manufacturing base. Pennsylvania will also be one of the biggest prizes in 2028’s presidential election.

Freshman Republican Congressman Ryan Mackenzie represents the area, which selected former President Joe Biden over Trump in 2020. The district favored Trump over Democrat Kamala Harris in 2024.

In an emailed statement, state Democratic Party chair Eugene DePasquale tied local Republican candidates, including Mackenzie, to what he called a “costly war of choice that caused gas prices to skyrocket” and “cruel healthcare cuts” pushed by Trump.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)

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