President Donald Trump is heading to Nevada on Wednesday to sell voters on his signature tax cuts, betting that popular policies like “no tax on tips” can blunt a growing dissatisfaction with the economy that Republicans fear could cost them their House majority.
The president’s rally at Red Rock Casino comes as recent polls show voters remain deeply pessimistic about the economy and skeptical of the GOP’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” the sprawling tax-and-spending package that transformed Trump’s campaign promises on taxes into law.
As part of a swing through the West Coast, the president’s stop will take him to a competitive House district, where Republican nominee Marty O’Donnell is trying to unseat Democratic Rep. Susie Lee — one of the GOP’s top targets this fall.
O’Donnell, a video game studio owner, says he will attend the rally in Las Vegas, where Trump is sure to bring up his “no tax on tips” policy. That policy is especially popular in Nevada, which has the nation’s highest concentration of tipped workers. And the tax break is even more popular in Las Vegas, where many workers rely on their tips to make ends meet.
The White House hopes the IRS provision — along with tax breaks on overtime pay and Social Security benefits — will help boost O’Donnell and other vulnerable Republicans across the country.
But that may be a difficult sell.
Only 22% of Americans said the tax-and-spending legislation had improved their financial situation, while 32% said it made their finances worse, according to a Politico poll in July.
In an effort to improve the law’s standing with voters, Republicans tried rebranding their reconciliation bill as the “Working Families Tax Cuts” late last year. But Democrats have seized on many of the policies in the bill, like tighter eligibility rules for Medicaid and food assistance programs, to argue that the legislation hurts lower-income Americans and primarily prioritized helping the rich.
Still, Republicans seem to think their reconciliation bill is a political winner.
“If Susie Lee had it her way, Nevada families would have seen their tax bill skyrocket and tipped workers would have lost more of their money this year,” O’Donnell wrote on X ahead of Trump’s visit.
In a statement, White House spokesperson Liz Huston said Trump “will remind Nevadans that every single Democrat opposed these commonsense reforms and fought to massively raise taxes on working families.”
“By passing no tax on tips, no tax on Social Security, and no tax on overtime,” Huston added, “President Trump and Republicans guaranteed Americans receive bigger paychecks and keep more of their hard-earned money.”
According to the Cook Political Report, Nevada’s 3rd congressional district leans Democratic, giving Lee the statistical edge over O’Donnell. Republicans, however, hope a broad anti-incumbent mood will help O’Donnell, who — like Trump in 2016 — is running as a political outsider. Lee has represented the district since 2019, and she won the Democratic primary by nearly 50 points in June.
Democrats, for their part, are betting that voter concerns about the economy will help them retake control of the House. A CNN/SSRS poll released at the end of July found that 65% of voters believe Trump’s policies have worsened economic conditions in the U.S., while only 22% believe they have improved them.
As the war in Iran drags on, gas prices are also on the rise. The average fuel price nationwide was around $4.10 on Tuesday. And in Nevada, gas prices are even higher, averaging $4.81, according to AAA.
White House officials initially signaled that the president would be on the campaign trail almost every week in 2026. But the war with Iran pulled his attention elsewhere this spring, while also driving up energy prices and intensifying concerns about the cost of living.
Trump’s advisers nevertheless believe campaigning alongside GOP candidates will help energize the lower-propensity voters that powered the president’s victories in 2016 and 2024 — even as his approval ratings reach record lows.
The administration has also tried to shift responsibility for the economy onto former President Joe Biden, arguing many of today’s affordability challenges are lingering effects from the previous administration.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made that case on CNBC on Tuesday, calling the affordability crisis a product of “the Biden era.”
He also touted last month’s consumer-price index report, which showed the biggest one-month drop in inflation since 2020, after the U.S. and Iran signed a short-lived ceasefire agreement.
Wednesday’s stop in Nevada follows a Republican National Committee fundraiser Trump attended at his golf club in Los Angeles on Tuesday, underscoring another advantage Republicans hope will offset the difficult political environment: money.
Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc., plans to start dispersing its roughly $400 million war chest to candidates later this month, MS NOW previously reported, giving the GOP a significant financial edge as the midterm campaign heats up.
Shortly after leaving for the West Coast, Trump took to Truth Social on Tuesday to blast portrayals of his stewardship of the economy, pointing to gains in the stock market and in manufacturing.
“The Fake News and the Dumocrats are doing everything they can to distract people’s thoughts from these MASSIVE Successes,” Trump said.
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