Donald Trump has sought to reboot his ailing US presidency at a rally-style event with a blitz of false claims about the economy and xenophobic attacks on immigrants and “shithole countries”.

In the wake of Republican election defeats and criticism that he is out of touch with America’s affordability crisis, Trump’s speech at the Mount Pocono casino in north-eastern Pennsylvania was billed as an opportunity to reclaim the economic narrative.

But greeted by Lee Greenwood’s song God Bless the USA and a crowd chanting “USA! USA! USA!”, the president swiftly reverted to his freewheeling campaign mode, frequently diverting from his teleprompter over more than 90 minutes to hurl insults and call affordability a “hoax”.

“I have no higher priority than making America affordable again,” Trump said in a rare moment of message discipline below a blue sign that said, “Lower prices, bigger paychecks.” He added: “That’s what we’re going to do. They [Democrats] caused the high prices and we’re bringing them down.”

Lavished with praise at cabinet meetings, Trump has been condemned as increasingly out of touch with the problems of ordinary Americans. This year he has held only five rallies and none since July, focusing his travel instead on overseas trips and his own luxury golf courses.

The president has often dismissed concerns about prices as a “hoax” and a “con job” to suggest that he bears no responsibility for inflation. In an interview with the Politico news site released on Tuesday, Trump was asked what grade he would give the economy. “A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus,” he replied.

Just as Biden embarked on ill-fated national tours to promote “Bidenomics”, insisting that the economy was thriving despite people’s struggle to make ends meet, now Trump is making a belated attempt to regain trust on the issue.

On Tuesday there were familiar rally staples such as a mocking impression of Biden, whose name prompted shouts of “autopen!” from the crowd, a boast about “the weave”, as he describes his zig-zagging speeches, and a complaint that the media never talks about the southern border now that he has secured it.

Trump also launched a racist attack on Democratic congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, a Muslim born in Somalia. He said: “Ilhan Omar, whatever the hell her name is. With her little turban. I love her. She comes in, does nothing but bitch. She’s always complaining.”

Trump went: “We ought to get her the hell out! She married her brother … Therefore she’s here illegally.” The crowd chanted: “Send her back!”

Omar fled civil war as a young child, came to the US as a refugee and became a US citizen in 2000. There is no evidence to support the claim that she married her brother, which she has long described as “absolutely false and ridiculous”.

Speaking about immigration, Trump has referenced “remigration”, a term coined by European white nationalists who’ve called for “reverse migration” of immigrants. “For the first time in 50 years, we now have reverse migration – which means more jobs, better wages, and higher income for American citizens, not for illegal aliens.”

Later, Trump appeared to confirm a story from his first term – previously denied – that he referred to Haiti and African nations as “shithole countries”. Recalling a meeting with senators back then, he said: “We had a meeting and I said, ‘Why is it we only take people from shithole countries, right?

Supporters at Trump’s event in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania. Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images

“‘Why can’t we have some people from Norway, Sweden, just a few. Let us have a few. From Denmark … send us some nice people. Do you mind? But we always take people from Somalia, places that are a disaster, right? Filthy, dirty, disgusting, ridden with crime. The only thing they’re good at is going after ships.”

But the main focus of the speech was intended to be the cost of living, where Trump threatens to drag down Republicans next year. Just 33% of US adults approve of his handling of the economy, according to a November survey by the Associated Press-Norc Center for Public Affairs Research.

The president has consistently blamed Biden for inflation even as his own aggressive implementation of tariffs has pushed up prices that had been settling down. Inflation began to accelerate after Trump announced his sweeping “liberation day” tariffs in April.

In an attempted course correction, Trump has reduced tariffs on products such as coffee, beef and tropical fruit, admitting they “may, in some cases” have contributed to higher prices. This week he announced a $12bn bailout for farmers affected by the trade war between the US and its top trading partners, particularly China.

Trump continued to defend tariffs by making a series of baseless assertions. “We’ve taken in hundreds of billions of dollars – really trillions,” he said in his speech.

“And if you add to that all of the companies that are pouring their money to building right now, building plants in Pennsylvania and many other states – auto plants, AI plants, plants of every type, which we would have never had if we didn’t put the tariffs on. Did you see where Europe now is saying, ‘I think we going to start doing what Trump is doing. We’re going to start putting on tariffs because we’re getting our asses kicked.’ And it’s true*.”*

Trump insisted: “Prices are coming down tremendously from the highest prices in the history of our country.” In reality, prices have gone up under Trump. The consumer price index shows that average prices were 1.7% higher in September than they were in January. And overall prices were 3% higher in September of this year compared with September 2024.

The president also repeatedly tried to shift responsibility for the affordability crisis to his predecessor as he displayed a series of charts showing prices, mortgage rates and real wages. Trump said: “They gave you high prices. They gave you the highest inflation in history and we’re giving you … we’re bringing those prices down rapidly.*” *Although the inflation rate did spike under Biden, it had cooled to 3% by the end of his term.

Trump ended the event as he has so many before: lingering on stage as the Village People’s YMCA played, pointing at people in the crowd and briefly wagging his arms in what has become a signature dance move. There are clearly more to come before the midterms.

Trump noted that his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, told him recently: “We have to start campaigning, sir … We have to win the midterms and you’re the guy that’s going to take us over the midterms.”

At one point the crowd erupted in chants of “four more years!” for Trump himself, even though he is constitutionally barred from seeking a third term in 2028. Well, you know what?” he said. “We have three years and two months to go and you know what that is? In Trump time, three years and two months is called eternity.”

Democrats in Pennsylvania gave short shift to Trump’s visit. Malcolm Kenyatta, a Democratic state representative, said last week: “I already knew Donald Trump was a liar and corrupt and incompetent, but there were a lot of people who did go into this election with a real hope that Donald Trump was going to lower costs. Now he says that affordability is a hoax. They thought that Donald Trump was going to get us out of foreign wars and entanglements. Now he’s looking at invading Venezuela.”