The News
On Thursday, the president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, is hosting a roundtable in Dallas with Google CEO Sundar Pichai to discuss the economy. According to the White House, the event is to discuss “preparing workers for the 21st century.”
Two weeks later, Trump himself is scheduled to hold a rally at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on Oct. 17. His last trip to Texas was in September.
A campaign spokesperson for the 2020 Trump campaign said the president is coming to Texas, “to celebrat[e] the good news of the Trump economy and the vast accomplishments of his administration with the great men and women of Texas.”
What It Means
The dual stops by Family Trump, together with his several visits to the Lone Star State earlier this year, don’t bode well for his campaign. And spending almost $1 million dollars in digital advertising in Texas this early — more than any other state — is another indicator Team Trump is having to fight — and spend resources in — the formerly red state of Texas.
But we already knew from a battery of polls that Texans don’t like Trump all that much, despite the piercing decibel level of his supporters. Polls show his approval rating below 50 percent.
On the economy, it’s classic Trumpian bluster. Americans are actually beginning to sour on Trump’s economy, which is showing signs of distress. A survey done for CNBC out this week found the economy is “no longer holding the president aloft,” wrote the pollsters. Half the country now disapproves of his handling of the economy.
“The state of the economy is the single biggest factor in determining whether the president is reelected, and right now, it feels like they are riding a rubber ducky into alligator-infested waters,” GOP strategist Michael Steel told Politico.
As the Signal reported recently, Texas farmers especially are becoming “nervous” because of the Trump-led trade war with China.
Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images
