For months, the word around Mar-a-Lago has been the same: the pivot is coming. Advisors and donors have been practically begging Donald Trump to stick to a script about the economy. They want him to talk about the price of eggs, the cost of gas, and why it’s so hard to buy a house in 2024.
It’s a simple strategy. If the election is about the money in your pocket, his team thinks he wins. But whenever he steps onto a stage, that disciplined message seems to evaporate into thin air.
The message his team wants
The plan on paper is actually quite focused. It’s all about affordability. You’ve probably seen the props—boxes of cereal and cans of coffee stacked on a podium. The goal is to make every voter feel the pinch of inflation every time they hear him speak.
And for a few minutes, it usually works. He’ll talk about how much more expensive life has become since 2020. But then, something happens. He catches a thought about a legal case or a personal rival, and the grocery bill talk gets tossed aside.
The grievance trap
Instead of a clear talk on trade policy, the audience gets a 90-minute tour of his personal frustrations. He spends time on the 2020 election results or the people he feels have wronged him. It’s the kind of rhetoric that fires up his core base, but it does very little for the swing voter who is just trying to figure out their mortgage.
So, the pivot remains a myth. It’s not that he can’t talk about the economy; it’s that he doesn’t seem to want to. He’d rather talk about the things that keep him up at night than the things that keep you up at night.
What happens next
This isn’t just a branding problem. It’s a math problem. There is a specific group of voters who aren’t interested in the drama but are very interested in their bank accounts. If Trump can’t find a way to stay on their topic, he’s leaving the door wide open for his opponents.
The boxes of cereal might still be on the stage, but the man behind the microphone is still playing his own greatest hits. We’ll see if those voters are still in the mood to listen come November.