TRUMP AFFORDABILITY SPEECH: Trump defended his efforts to lower the cost of living and improve the economy during a sprawling speech in Mount Pocono, Pa., on Tuesday evening.
The Hill’s Brett Samuels reports Trump tried to simultaneously argue he’s working to lower costs while rejecting the idea that the economy and affordability were political vulnerabilities for him.
His address comes as polls increasingly show more Americans dissatisfied with his handling of the economy and inflation.
On one occasion, the president brought up individuals who are benefiting from his One Big Beautiful Bill Act, his signature second-term legislative accomplishment so far. One was a firefighter whose overtime pay won’t be taxed, while another was a mother who works as a waitress whose tips won’t be taxed.
But Trump at other times slammed attacks on his administration about affordability as a Democratic “hoax.”
“You know, they always have a hoax. Their new word is affordability. So they look at the camera and they say, ‘This election is all about affordability,’” he said.
Recent polling has shown a majority of voters believe Trump isn’t effectively handling inflation and is more to blame for their poor economic outlook than former President Biden, a common foil for Trump.
The president’s remarks Tuesday night also frequently resembled a campaign speech as he jumped around topics and denounced his political opponents in harsh terms.
He went after Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Somali immigrants in particular, emphasizing his efforts to stop the flow of migrants from "hellholes” like Somalia, Haiti and Afghanistan.
Trump has focused criticism on Somali migrants in recent days amid reports that members of that community were tied to a fraud scandal in Minnesota.
“If you don’t share our values, contribute to our economy, and assimilate into our society, then we don’t want you in our country,” Trump said.
▪ The Hill: Trump battles vibe shift in MAGA movement.
DEMS POWER TO ELECTION NIGHT WINS: Democrats notched a few extra wins in elections Tuesday night to cap off a year of widespread success.
The party flipped the Miami mayor's office for the first time in three decades as Democrat Eileen Higgins defeated Republican Emilio Gonzalez, a former Miami city manager who served on Trump’s Homeland Security Department transition team, in a technically nonpartisan race.
Higgins will be Miami’s first female mayor and succeed term-limited incumbent Mayor Francis Suarez (R).
The city of Miami narrowly voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris last year, but Miami-Dade County flipped red for Trump, who made gains with its predominantly Latino and Hispanic demographic. Recent polling has shown Latinos viewing Trump more poorly.
Democrats also won a surprise victory in a Georgia state House district that voted for Trump last year by 12 points. Eric Gisler (D) defeated Republican Mark Guest IV, leading by almost 2 points as of the latest vote count.
Despite being underdogs, Democrats had hoped they could score an upset as many of their candidates have outperformed Harris's margins by double digits in elections this year.
The Georgia win came just a month after Democrats flipped two seats on the Georgia Public Service Commission, their first non-federal statewide wins in the Peach State since 2006.
▪ The Albuquerque Journal: Democratic incumbent wins reelection as mayor.
NEW THIS A.M.: House Democrats' campaign arm is adding five additional seats to its list of targets for next year's midterms as it feels more bullish about winning back the House, The Hill's Caroline Vakil reports.
The districts being added are California’s 48th Congressional District, Florida’s 15th District, North Carolina’s 3rd District and 11th District and Texas’ 35th District, bringing the total number of targets to 40.
The additions also come a week after a special election for a vacant House seat in Tennessee. Although Trump carried the district last year by 22 points, the Republican candidate only won by 9 points.
HEGSETH RESTRICTED: A provision tucked into the annual defense policy bill is seeking to add pressure on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to release the unedited video of the controversial strikes on an alleged drug boat from early September.
The section included in the final version of the National Defense Authorization Act, set to receive a vote in the House, blocks a portion of Hegseth’s travel budget until he turns over the footage and copies of the orders behind the operations, The Hill’s Sudiksha Kochi and Filip Timotija report.
A House panel approved the bipartisan bill in a 9-3 vote Tuesday night, sending it to the floor for full consideration today.
It comes as Hegseth faces continued scrutiny over the Pentagon’s decision-making in the strikes that destroyed the boat on Sept. 2 and then killed two survivors who were clinging to the wreckage.
The attention on Hegseth has subsided somewhat after Navy Adm. Frank Bradley, who ordered the subsequent strike, told lawmakers during a briefing last week that Hegseth didn’t give an order to “kill everybody” aboard the boat, denying reporting from The Washington Post.
But Democrats and some Republicans have responded to the strikes with indignation and demanded Hegseth provide more information about what happened.
▪ The Hill: Dems frustrated after Hegseth briefing.
▪ NBC News: Advocates sue administration for memo justifying boat strikes.
GOP ALTERNATIVE: The Senate will vote Thursday on a Republican alternative to Democrats’ health care proposal to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies before the end of the year.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) announced Tuesday the vote will take place the same day the chamber will vote on a Democratic measure from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to extend the subsidies by three years.
The GOP proposal would replace the enhanced subsidies with health savings accounts that would receive federal contributions to pay out-of-pocket expenses.
Thune hadn’t originally planned a vote on a Republican alternative, but the vote will give his GOP colleagues, including those potentially vulnerable in next year’s midterms, the opportunity to vote on another measure alongside the one from Democrats, The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports.
Republicans have been divided between moderates who are interested in voting to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits in some form to avoid premiums spiking for millions of Americans and staunch conservatives who are opposed to any measure that could help what they view as failed health care policy.
▪ The Hill: Warning signs emerge for MAGA on ObamaCare.
▪ The Hill: Subsidies extension bill faces high hurdle, tight deadline.
MAXWELL FILES: A federal judge has granted a request from the Department of Justice (DOJ) to publicly release files from the sex-trafficking case against Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime associate of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer made his ruling in light of the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which Trump signed last month to direct the DOJ to release unclassified Epstein-related records in a format that is searchable by Dec. 19.
Engelmayer found the act “unambiguously” applies to the case. But he criticized the DOJ, accusing officials of misleading the public about what information the materials contain. He previously had denied the DOJ’s request to release the files, saying most of the material had long been a matter of public record.
Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for conspiring with Epstein in sex trafficking and abuse of underage girls.
The deadline for the DOJ to release the Epstein files is quickly approaching, but some critics have expressed concern that Attorney General Pam Bondi may look for loopholes to avoid full disclosure.
