The White House is using a pair of stops in Texas this week to promote economic successes that President Donald Trump said they are not getting enough credit for going into the midterm elections.<\/p>\n
Trump will be at a truck manufacturing facility in Denton on Thursday to celebrate job creation just a day after Vice President J.D. Vance talked up the same topic with shipbuilders in Brownsville.<\/p>\n
“We are rebuilding the American dream by the ground up by employing and investing in American workers and American businesses,” Vance said in a speech at Texas-based Saronic Technologies Inc.’s new shipyard.<\/p>\n
The visits are partly aimed at trying to reverse polling that shows Trump’s<\/p>\n
approval ratings on the economy have reached all-time lows. A national\u00a0survey<\/p>\n
of 1,032 registered voters released Tuesday by Quinnipiac University shows just 31% approved of his handling of the economy<\/a> at a time that<\/p>\n gas prices have soared since the start of the war with Iran.<\/p>\n That is the lowest number for Trump on the economy in a Quinnipiac Poll since he first won the White House, in 2016.<\/p>\n The poor showing is clearly frustrating Trump, who used an event to promote Hispanic Heritage Month at the White House on Wednesday to vent about the public not celebrating his economic wins. He’s said he’s having to hit the campaign trail in places like Texas out of necessity.<\/p>\n “I’m going out because nobody’s selling it,” Trump said. “We’re doing an extremely poor job of promotion.”<\/p>\n Vance tried to do his part on Wednesday, touting job report numbers that show the private sector created 90,000 new jobs in September, a better-than-expected number that was also an increase from last month. And more directly to Texas, he used his visit to tout what he said were 10,000 jobs being created at the Port of Brownsville directly<\/p>\n because of Trump administration policies.<\/p>\n Trump will try his hand at the messaging when he visits Peterbilt’s headquarters and manufacturing hub in Denton.<\/p>\n “The President’s America First trade agenda is driving a manufacturing renaissance that will continue paying dividends for the great state of Texas and Americans across the country,” White House spokesperson Olivia Wales said about Trump’s trip.<\/p>\n Trump is expected to show how his tariff program brought truck manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. The administration wants to specifically<\/p>\n highlight how Peterbilt’s parent company, PACCAR, added 1,000 manufacturing jobs in Denton as a result of the tariffs.<\/p>\n But Democrats say Trump’s messaging as\u00a0families are struggling to put gas in their trucks shows how tone deaf the administration is.<\/p>\n “The only economy booming under Trump is his own and that of his family, as they continue to benefit from business dealings while he sits in the White House,” Texas Democratic Party chairman Kendall Scudder said of Trump’s Texas visit.<\/p>\n The White House visits are part of a broader attempt by Trump to defy history and not lose seats in Congress during a midterm elections. Trump said he decided to hold a midterm national convention in Dallas earlier this month with hopes it would improve the party’s chances in November. He’s also put pressure on his cabinet members to travel the nation going into November to help promote their agenda. On Friday, U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon will be doing just that in Laredo to tout education policies enacted by the Trump administration.<\/p>\n Subscribe<\/p>\n There’s more to Houston with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25\u00a2.<\/a><\/p>\n