President Donald Trump came to North Carolina on Friday to talk about the economy.
He ended up explaining how his wife organizes her lingerie drawer.
“I think you steam them,” he offered at one point, hoping to emphasize the violation Melania Trump felt when, in his story, FBI agents rummaged through her clean underwear — “sometimes called panties” — during the 2022 search of Mar-a-Lago.
In the realm of Trump tangents, he wasn’t the wildest, or the angriest, or the most bizarre.
Still, as the president hopes to refocus the nation’s attention on his economic record ahead of critical midterm elections next year, it was another reminder that his own focus often remains somewhat adrift.
Trump discussed the economy periodically in his 90-minute speech, which he called a “quick stop” in Rocky Mount on his way to Mar-a-Lago for the holidays. He trumpeted a report this week that showed inflation was unexpectedly cooling. He recounted an announcement he made earlier in the day regarding the lowering of some drug prices. He considered an increase in the unemployment rate a success because it laid off so many government workers.
Supporters behind him held signs reading “Lower Prices” and “Bigger Paychecks.” But even the visual cues couldn’t stop the president from moving well off the track – often to the delight of his crowd.
As he explained the negotiations that went into the drug pricing scheme, attendees listened politely, if quietly, as he assumed a French accent to imitate President Emmanuel Macron during their pharmaceutical negotiations.
The crowd really came alive as he reminisced about his opponent from nearly a decade ago.
“I don’t know, it was fun to beat Hillary,” he gushed. “Remember, he was a nasty person. I was going to use a B-word. I said, ‘my wife wouldn’t be happy.’
There are plenty of Trump advisers who would prefer the president focus more on the here and now or — even better — on what’s next. As he loses his political edge on the economy, many of his allies worry that he has lost touch with the voters’ concerns and anxieties that propelled him into office in the first place.
Friday’s rally was the latest in a series of roadshows that White House advisers have planned for Trump to refine his message on falling prices. He also delivered a first-ever address to the nation this week designed to get the message across.
Much of his argument rests on the fact that he inherited what he says was an economic disaster from Joe Biden, although inflation was at 3 percent when he took office and is only slightly lower now. (And economists warned that last month’s drop in inflation had a lot to do with economic data distortions related to the shutdown.)
As is so often the case, however, the intended content of Trump’s speech was a target that didn’t always find an arrow.
As the hour ticked by, his list of complaints grew to include the media and Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a onetime loyalist who dramatically broke with him and whom Trump now calls “Marjorie Traitor Brown.”
His rant about Melania’s ineptitude came amid a tirade about the investigations that have plagued him in his time off from office. He considered giving himself a massive amount in connection with the complaints he filed against the Department of Justice.
“I’m suing and I’m the one who should settle. So maybe I’ll give myself $1 billion and give it all to charity,” he said.
Trump found ample distractions in the crowd, including a group of glamorous women from the western part of the state who volunteer at his events. When he spotted a hat he liked, he explained how he could assess its value.
“I want gold thread, not mustard color. You know?” he said. “When you have a mustard thread, don’t accept it.”
Recalling the days when he came to buy furniture in North Carolina as a hotelier, he explained the demanding nature of the task.
“The arm of a chair was very important to me. I said, ‘I like the chair, but this arm has to be a different shape,'” he said. He continued: “I’m a very aesthetic person, believe me, except for women, I don’t care what a woman looks like. I used to say beautiful. Now I don’t care.”
He spent several minutes discussing his physical health, amid questions about his stamina after appearing to doze off during several on-camera events recently. He showed the string of cognitive tests he claims to have passed. And he promised to alert the nation if it found itself in decline.
“When the time comes, I’ll let you know about it. In fact, you’ll probably find out about it just by watching,” he said. “But that time is not now, because I feel the same way I’ve felt for 50 years.”
It was, after all, the same kind of speech Trump has been giving for more than 10 years now, the “fabric” he takes great pride in. It has less to do with a calculated political message than the free association of whatever is on his mind — which is often the people or entities he believes have wronged him.
Still, if some of his fixations cause heartburn among his allies, Trump has a different view.
“I think I’m probably very neurotic,” he said in Rocky Mount. “I always say that controlled neuroses are good. Being neurotic is not good. But if it’s controlled, it’s okay. It gives you a little energy.”
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