By Jarrett Renshaw and Trevor Hunnicutt
LOWER MACUNGIE TOWNSHIP, Pennsylvania, June 23 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the campaign trail on Tuesday with a stop in battleground Pennsylvania, pitching a Rust Belt revival as high prices and the Iran war clouded his midterm elections push.
The visit to one of the country’s most closely contested congressional districts offered a glimpse into the president’s political strategy, showing his comfort with making the November elections a referendum on his policies despite low approval ratings.
Speaking at a Mack Trucks assembly plant owned by Sweden’s Volvo Group, Trump shifted from his recent focus on Iran to selling his jobs-and-reindustrialization agenda to factory workers who have formed the base of his “Make America Great Again” political movement.
“For decades, the workers of this commonwealth watched globalist politicians let other countries rip you off and close your factories,” Trump said. “Then I came along. We stopped it very quickly.”
Trump’s Republican Party is seeking to retain control of the House of Representatives and Senate in November. 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.
MIXED MANUFACTURING PICTURE
In his first campaign stop in more than two weeks, Trump emphasized 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 energy costs.
But the manufacturing picture is mixed. Since Trump’s return to the White House in January 2025, U.S. manufacturing employment has fallen by 68,000 jobs, including more than 17,000 jobs lost in the automotive sector, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data through May. Through early 2026, goods production employment appears to have stabilized, with upticks in four of the last five months.
Production of medium and heavy vehicles, such as those made by Mack, has been trending down. In the year through May, Federal Reserve data show U.S. truck makers produced about 242,000 vehicles per month at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate, the lowest output in more than four years.
Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District, spanning the state’s Lehigh Valley, is widely regarded as a race either party could win. The district includes Allentown, the subject of a Billy Joel blue-collar anthem, and its economy has retained a strong manufacturing base.
Freshman Republican U.S. Representative Ryan Mackenzie represents the area, which selected former President Joe Biden over Trump in 2020. The district favored Trump over Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in 2024. Pennsylvania will also be one of the biggest prizes in the 2028 presidential election.
“I’m not doing this for my health,” Trump said of his visit, adding that it was imperative to reelect Mackenzie.
TRUMP TO BE MAJOR TOPIC FOR PENNSYLVANIA VOTERS
Hundreds of Trump supporters waited for hours in a steady rain to attend Tuesday’s event in Lower Macungie Township.
“My household income has risen significantly since Trump took office. I think America has never been in a better position,” said Mandy Rodgers, a 43-year-old mother of two and small business owner.
Rodgers acknowledged the cost of everyday items such as groceries and gasoline remained elevated, but said Trump had made significant strides in dealing with Venezuela and Iran while following through on campaign promises to crack down on immigration and crime at home.
Democratic strategists said they intend to make Republican candidates’ support for Trump’s agenda a central issue in races across the state.
“They will own Trump, even if they don’t want to,” said an aide working closely with the campaign of Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro, who is seeking reelection in 2026 and is seen as a possible 2028 presidential candidate.
Shapiro’s Republican challenger, state Treasurer Stacy Garrity, appeared at the event with Trump, along with Mackenzie.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington and Jarrett Renshaw in Lower Macungie Township, Pennsylvania; Additional reporting by Dan Burns; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Lincoln Feast, Alexandra Hudson, Rod Nickel)
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