Trump’s team is focusing on the economy as a top issue at the mid-year strategy meeting
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It’s all about the economy.
That was the message from top members of President Donald Trump’s political team, as they gathered in a closed-door strategy meeting with members of the Trump administration’s cabinet and their top aides on how best to sell the president’s agenda to voters in the midterm elections.
The meeting, confirmed to Fox News by sources familiar with the meeting, was chaired by White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair, who oversees Trump’s political strategy.
According to sources, the message during the slide presentation by chief pollster and strategist Tony Fabrizio was that the economy will be the top issue on voters’ minds, and that the White House needs to highlight its efforts to reduce access.
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President Donald Trump moves as he arrives to deliver a briefing on the US economy and its affordability at the Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, on Dec. 9, 2025. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
The meeting was held as the GOP works to defend its control of the Senate and its slim House majority in mid-November. Republicans face traditional political storms during midterms, when the governing party often loses seats in the House and Senate.
Republicans also face persistently underwater presidential approval ratings, as well as a number of polls, including the latest Fox News poll, that show Americans are pessimistic about the economy and say things have not improved in the year since Trump returned to the White House.
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Meanwhile, Democrats have achieved a string of ballot box victories and outperformance in year-by-year absentee elections and special elections during Trump’s second administration, thanks to their laser focus on affordability amid persistent inflation.
President Donald Trump takes the stage to speak during a rally at the Horizon Events Center in Clive, Iowa, on Jan. 27. The president highlighted his administration’s efforts to lower prices. (Wina McNamee/Getty Images)
Trump was not at the meeting, according to sources. But he is expected to tout the economy and his administration’s achievements when he holds a political event on Thursday at a battleground in Georgia, which is hosting key Senate and gubernatorial elections this year.
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And the president will have an even bigger spotlight next week, when he delivers the annual State of the Union address.
Vice President JD Vance gave a taste of this message in an interview Tuesday on Fox News’ “The Story.”
Pointing to the administration of former President Joe Biden, Vance argued, “We’re still digging out of the hole that the Democrats put us in. And I think the question we’re going to ask the American people is, do you want to return the government to the people, frankly, who burned the house down and made many Americans very rich and want a little leadership that’s twice as safe for you?”
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Tuesday evening’s meeting was held at the Capitol Hill Club, a popular private space among politicians located near the headquarters of the Republican National Committee, a few blocks from the US Capitol.
Besides texting, sources say the meeting focused on voting and the 2026 election map, with Trump’s top political aides walking those who attended the meeting using new information on key battlegrounds. And they reiterated the importance of Cabinet officials hitting the ground running as key representatives to sell the president’s agenda.
