Strategy session: Trump's team huddles on midterm messaging with spotlight on economy

It's all about the economy.

That was the message from top members of President Donald Trump's political team, as they huddled in a closed-door strategy session with Trump administration Cabinet members and their top aides on how best to sell the president's agenda to voters in this year's midterm elections.

The meeting, which was confirmed to Fox News by sources familiar with the gathering, was hosted by White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and deputy chief of staff James Blair, who is steering Trump's political strategy.

According to sources, the message during a slide presentation by chief pollster and strategist Tony Fabrizio was that the economy will be the top issue on the minds of voters, and that the White House needs to spotlight its efforts on easing affordability.

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The meeting was held as the GOP works to defend their control of the Senate and their razor-thin House majority in November's midterms. Republicans are facing traditional political headwinds in the midterms, when the party in power usually loses House and Senate seats.

Republicans are also dealing with the president's continued underwater approval ratings, and a slew of surveys, including the latest Fox News polling, that indicates Americans are pessimistic about the economy and say things have not improved in the year since Trump returned to the White House.

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Meanwhile, Democrats have scored a series of ballot box victories and overperformances in off-year elections and special elections during Trump's second administration, thanks to their laser focus on affordability amid persistent inflation.

Trump wasn't at the meeting, according to sources. But he's expected to spotlight the economy and his administration's achievements when he holds a political event Thursday in battleground Georgia, which is holding key elections for the Senate and governor this year.

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And the president will have an even bigger spotlight next week, when he delivers the annual State of the Union address.

Vice President JD Vance offered a taste of the messaging in an interview Tuesday on Fox News' "The Story."

Pointing to former President Joe Biden's administration, Vance argued, "We're still digging out of the hole the Democrats put us in. And I think the question we're going to put to the American people is, do you want to give the government back over to the people who, frankly, burned down the house and made most Americans much less wealthy and much less safe? Or do you want to double down on the president's leadership?"

The Tuesday evening meeting took place at the Capitol Hill Club, a private venue popular among political insiders that's located next to the Republican National Committee's headquarters, a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol.

Besides messaging, sources say the meeting also focused on polling and the 2026 electoral map, with top Trump political aides walking those attending the gathering through new data on key midterm battlegrounds. And they also emphasized the importance of Cabinet officials hitting the trail as key surrogates to sell the president's agenda.