Trump made the trip to the Hudson Valley on Friday as part of a White House push to highlight his economic record and to tie that record to upcoming midterm races, even as his approval rating on the economy has softened. He spoke at Rockland Community College in Suffern, New York, alongside Rep. Mike Lawler, who is seeking reelection in New York’s 17th Congressional District, and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Trump-backed candidate for governor.
From the start, Trump’s remarks were billed as an economy-focused message, but he shifted into a series of off-topic tangents, according to the Associated Press. The president went through themes including voter identification, crime in cities, transgender women in sports and his use of a new moniker for Democrats, before returning to the tax-policy portion of the event.
When Trump returned to the policy focus, he told the crowd that he and Republicans had worked to “slash taxes and increase take-home pay,” arguing that Democrats opposed the effort at every turn. He delivered the message as a contrast between Republican provisions that reduced taxes and Democratic opposition to those provisions, while also directing the audience back to the tax law he signed last year.
The event was designed in part to promote the centerpiece of last year’s law for New Yorkers: the expansion of the state and local tax deduction, known as SALT. Trump discussed the importance of SALT in a high-tax state and promoted the changes as part of the economic accomplishments he wants to foreground with voters.
Lawler, a Republican and Trump-endorsed incumbent, helped frame the trip as delivering relief to people in his district. During the event, Trump brought Lawler onto the stage, and Lawler thanked the president for helping deliver a win for constituents. Lawler also said more than 90% of residents in the district were able to fully deduct their state and local taxes under the expanded deduction.
Trump and Lawler tied those claims to negotiations and outcomes around the SALT cap. Trump said that he established a SALT cap in 2017 through the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and that last year’s law expanded the SALT deduction to $40,000 from $10,000 after negotiations with Republicans, including Lawler, whose district has high local taxes.
Trump further cited figures that White House-provided data put the average tax refund for New Yorkers at more than $3,800. Lawler said his constituents had been seeing refund checks ranging from $5,000 to $20,000, and he used the “Mr. SALT” branding to underscore the fight over the deduction.
The appearance also came as the White House looked for more opportunities to highlight Trump’s economic accomplishments amid polling showing weak approval on how he is handling the economy. An AP-NORC poll cited in the reporting found about one-third of U.S. adults approve, down slightly from 40% at the start of his second term, and the report attributed recent price pressure in part to gasoline rising this year due to the war in Iran.
Lawler’s race is attracting attention because he is one of three House Republicans representing districts that voted for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in 2024. The Democratic primary is June 23, with five Democrats competing for the chance to face Lawler in November, while a Democratic Party campaign message portrayed the event as tied to economic conditions hurting working families.
In a response that disputed the contention that Trump’s visit would help Lawler, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Riya Vashi said the event reflected what she characterized as an inability to understand Lawler’s district and blamed a “disastrous economy” for crushing working families. Richard Hudson, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, disputed that characterization and said the president’s showing would help, pointing to polling he said favored Trump’s support and voters’ prospects for Democrats in the district.
Lawler described the event as an official White House event rather than a campaign appearance and said he noted strong interest, with more than 5,000 people registering to attend within the first 12 hours that sign-up was available.