Right Message, but Consistency Is Key – RedState
President Trump told Politico this week that the 2026 midterm elections will be focused on “pricing” as Republicans head into a critical period with control of Congress on the line. That’s the correct diagnosis. The question is whether Trump can stick to it.
“I think it will be about the success of our country. It will be about price,” Trump said in an exclusive interview. “Because, you know, they put high prices on us, and we’re bringing them down. Energy is down. Gasoline is down.”
He’s not wrong about the fundamentals. Gas prices fell below $3 a gallon for the first time in more than four years. The administration has made real gains in energy costs. Economic growth reached 4.3% in the third quarter. These are the building blocks of a winning message by 2026.
There’s just one problem: Trump has spent the last two months calling the affordability crisis a “scam,” a “hoax” and a “scam” perpetrated by Democrats as voters continued to lose faith in him and his administration due to stubbornly high inflation and rising prices.
The problem of credibility
In November, after Democrats overperformed in off-year elections by focusing on voters’ concerns about high costs, Trump dismissed the issue altogether.
“Affordability is a lie when used by Democrats. It’s a total scam,” he wrote on Truth Social. At a Cabinet meeting in December, he went further: “Affordability is a hoax started by the Democrats who caused the pricing problem.”
The timing couldn’t have been worse. Democrats had just won major elections in New York, Virginia and New Jersey by focusing on affordability. Voters made it clear what mattered to them. Trump’s response was to tell them that their concerns were made up.
Even some of Trump’s most loyal allies in Congress have begun to sound the alarm.
“People are not stupid,” Sen. Josh Hawley told NBC News. “When they go to the grocery store, they know what it costs and what it doesn’t cost.”
Rep. Tony Gonzales warned that Republicans “will be fools” if they don’t sharpen their economic message before the midterm elections.
The data confirms the concern. An NPR/PBS News/Marist poll showed Democrats holding a 14-point advantage in the congressional vote, their largest lead since November 2017, just before winning 40 House seats in the 2018 midterms. Trump’s approval fell from more than 50% at the start of his second term to about 42%, with disapproval climbing to nearly 55%.
Voters are reacting to a president who campaigned on cutting costs, when costs aren’t coming down at all, and then that president calling those voters’ costs a hoax. Today, it returns to pricing as the central message at the midpoint. This inconsistency undermines the credibility that Republicans need to defend their congressional majorities.
The Postman Susie Wiles
Which brings us to what may be the most important development: White House chief of staff Susie Wiles appears to be tightening her grip on Trump’s email operation.
In a recent podcast appearance, Wiles revealed an aggressive strategy for the 2026 midterm elections that breaks from traditional playbooks. Instead of limiting Trump’s exposure in the contested election, she plans to bring him to the forefront.
“We’re actually going to turn it around and put it on the ballot,” Wiles said. “He’s going to campaign like it’s 2024 again.”
LEARN MORE: The Trump “participation machine” will go into full gear during the 2026 midterm blitz
The logic is good. Trump generated historic turnout among low-propensity voters in 2024. Analysis by Democratic data scientist David Shor showed that if all registered voters had turned out in 2024, Trump would have won the popular vote by 5 points instead of 1.6 points. The MAGA base is a participation machine when activated: the 2022 “red wave” fizzled precisely because Trump was not actively campaigning.
Now, Trump himself isn’t on the ballot, so there’s reason to think he might not have the same effect in 2026. But here’s what gives me hope about Wiles’ increased visibility: She understands the discipline required for this strategy to work. You can’t nationalize the midterm elections around Trump while Trump simultaneously tells voters their economic concerns are wrong. The message must be consistent, relentless and credible.
Wiles has been more visible in the media recently, suggesting she is taking more ownership not only of campaign strategy but also control of messaging. If she can keep Trump and the White House team on the “we’re bringing prices down” message – and away from the “it’s just a hoax” spin – the Republicans have a real chance of retaining their majority.
The opportunity the Republicans are wasting
The frustrating thing is that Republicans can rely on real accomplishments. Gas prices are falling. Inflation has slowed from its peak in 2022. The economy is growing robustly. Encounters at the border are considerably fewer than during the final year of the Biden administration.
Democrats, meanwhile, face their own messaging chaos. Progressive activists are pushing the party further left while voters are moving right on key issues. The contrast is written. On one hand, the Trump administration is working to cut costs. On the other side, you have the Democratic Party bowing to its far-left extremist base.
But one cannot draw this contrast while simultaneously denying that costs are a problem. You can’t campaign on “We’re fixing Biden’s inflation mess” while calling affordability issues a scam. The discipline of the message must be absolute.
This is where Wiles’ role becomes critical. Trump needs people who will keep him focused on victories, including lower gas prices, economic growth, border security, and who will steer him away from the self-destructive tangents of hoaxes and scams.
Signage at Trump’s recent rally in Pennsylvania read “Lower Prices.” That’s the message. The question is whether Trump will stick to this position or move toward conspiracy theories about Democratic puns.
The way forward
Congressional Republicans had their least productive year since at least 1989, passing just 38 bills. They don’t have a strong legislative record to campaign on, and they’re fighting more among themselves than against Democrats. What they have is Trump’s executive action agenda and the economic improvements that resulted from it. Between this and the One Big Beautiful Bill, this is the story they need to tell.
Democrats are vulnerable. They lost in 2024 because voters rejected their economic management. But they’ve coalesced around the affordability message, and early results show it’s working. Republicans must meet this challenge head on with a consistent and credible message about what they are doing to reduce costs.
Trump’s acknowledgment that 2026 will be about price is exactly right. Energy costs matter. Grocery bills matter. Working families want to know their wages will go further. If Republicans can stay disciplined on that message, if Susie Wiles can keep the team focused and prevent Trump from undermining his own narrative, they can hold Congress and continue to advance their policy agenda.
But if Trump returns to calling voters’ concerns a hoax, if message discipline breaks down, if the team fails to stay focused on kitchen table issues, then Democrats will have a clear opening. Voters will choose the party that takes their struggles seriously rather than the one that dismisses them as imaginary.
The issues are clear. The path is obvious. Now we’ll see if Trump and his team can achieve this consistently by November 2026. Based on Wiles’ recent comments and increased visibility, there is reason for cautious optimism. But optimism is not the same as confidence – and in politics, execution is everything.
President Donald Trump’s agenda cannot stop there. Republicans need to win in 2026, and we’re giving voters the information they need.
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