Trump’s focus on DC construction projects complicates GOP’s affordability message

“He says almost anything, and he doesn’t care,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) while speaking on the Senate floor Wednesday morning. “Clearly, Donald Trump doesn’t care about Americans’ financial situation, considering that just this morning, we saw wholesale inflation skyrocket to 6%, the highest it’s been since December of 2022.”

The Democratic leader then segued into blasting Trump over a topic that has recently captured his attention: his insistence that Congress provide $1 billion in security funding for the White House ballroom through a second reconciliation bill.

“Now what is Donald Trump thinking about instead? Himself, especially his new ballroom,” Schumer said. “At a time when 77%, that’s 77% of Americans, say that Donald Trump’s policies have increased their cost of living, Trump and the Senate GOP try to force through a bill that would spend a billion taxpayer dollars on a gilded ballroom and not one penny on bringing down American costs.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) later claimed Trump and the GOP didn’t “give a damn” about the personal finances of the American people during his weekly press conference.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) defended Trump’s comments as reporters peppered him about Trump’s comments about the economy and about the president’s penchant for a newly constructed ballroom at the White House.

“I don’t know the context in which he made that comment, but I can tell you, the president thinks about Americans’ financial situations,” Johnson said Wednesday morning during a press conference. “He’s laser focused on trying to resolve the conflict in Iran, because if we get the Strait of Hormuz, when we get the Strait of Hormuz reopened, that will alleviate a lot of pressure with gas prices and other things in the economy.”

Johnson also touted the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which he said was “infused with pro-growth policies,” as an example of the GOP’s focus on affordability.

But as gas prices remain at an average of $4.51 per gallon just ahead of the summer holiday season, Trump’s focus on ending an unpopular war in Iran and on construction projects that don’t affect the average American’s daily life is putting the GOP in an awkward position.

Peace talks to end the war have fallen apart since Operation Epic Fury launched on Feb. 28. After more than 10 months of the conflict, three Senate Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Rand Paul (R-KY) — joined with nearly all Democrats except Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) in the seventh failed resolution to end the war.

At a Rose Garden event on Monday celebrating National Police Week, Trump focused some of his remarks on the changes he has made to the White House.

“This place was not properly taken care of,” said Trump. “I was told by my wife, ‘You have to act presidential, so don’t use foul language.’ I won’t. Therefore, normally I wouldn’t say it was a s*** house, but I don’t want to say that. The columns were falling down. The plaster was falling off.”

Trump then bragged about “all the brand new, beautiful stone.”

Trump has also focused some of his attention on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovation and the construction of an arch comparable to Paris’ Arc de Triomphe, neither of which addresses the pocketbook issues that voters are concerned about.

“I can’t fathom that kind of number for security,” said Sen. Jim Justice (R-WV), while Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) said the ballroom is “Not happening here.”

Matthew Dallek, a political historian at George Washington University, said it was likely that Democrats could run ads featuring Trump’s comments on the economy ahead of the midterm elections. “It seems to hand them like a really big political club,” he said.

Trump’s comments come as the Republican odds of keeping control of the House increased after the Supreme Court’s recent ruling weakening the Voting Rights Act. Several states are moving forward with creating more GOP-leaning districts.

But with Trump’s dismissive comments about the economy and obsession with several construction projects, Republicans are once again forced to focus on issues that put them on the defensive against Democrats.

“The image of him tearing down the east wing, and then of Republicans potentially trying to fund the ballroom at a time when Americans have been hurting for many years, and are hurting even worse now, I think it’s a bit of a slap in the face to many people who voted for Trump and just many Americans,” Dallek said.

Trump claimed the ballroom is “under budget” before he left for China, while Johnson claimed, “there’s an urgent need for increased security measures” during his press conference.

“The ballroom is totally privately funded,” he added. “The president has dedicated like $400 million for that project, and by the way, it’s going to be a donation to the country.”

A recent Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll showed that 56% of Americans opposed the ballroom while only 28% support the project. The poll also showed 52% opposed the construction of the arch, while only 21% supported the project.

Republicans in competitive races will likely have to “thread the needle” of pushing back against Trump’s priorities without incurring his wrath, said Dallek.

Trump’s dominance over the GOP remains strong. Five Indiana Republican state senators lost primaries to Trump-backed challengers after refusing to go forward with a mid-decade redistricting plan in the state.

“It may not be possible to do, but they’re going to try and thread a needle where they are going to support the president,” Dallek said. “But they’re going to probably try to put a little bit of distance between themselves and Trump on inflation. And how they do that is a tall order.”