(NewsNation) — Former President Donald Trump will visit Chicago on Tuesday for an interview with Bloomberg’s Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait, hosted by the Economic Club of Chicago.
The event is an opportunity for Trump to tout his economic agenda in the Democratic stronghold. It’s one of a series of appearances by both presidential candidates before regional economic organizations in the run-up to Election Day.
The Economic Club said it extended an invitation to Trump as well as his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. It’s unclear whether Harris will accept the invitation.
How important is the economy to the Trump campaign?
The economy tops American voters’ list of concerns and may be a driving force behind their vote in November. Recent polling shows more swing-state voters believe Trump is better equipped than Harris to handle the economy.
Gallup polling suggests 52% of voters feel the economy has an “extremely important” influence over whom they’ll vote for. That’s the most weight the economy has carried for voters since October 2008 (during the Great Recession) when 55% of voters said the same, NewsNation partner The Hill reported.
Where does Trump stand on economic issues?
If elected, Trump said Tesla CEO Elon Musk has agreed to head a commission to perform a financial audit of the federal government.
He also promised “lower taxes, bigger paychecks and more jobs for American workers” by enacting universal baseline tariffs that “reward domestic production” and tax foreign companies.
His plans include a corporate tax cut, but only for companies producing in the U.S
Federal debt held by the public rose from $14.4 trillion to $21.6 trillion during Trump’s presidency. That was partially influenced by his tax cuts, particularly slashes to the corporate tax rate, according to the Annenberg Public Policy Center’s FactCheck project.
How are Trump, Harris performing so far?
All seven swing-state leads were within the polling margin of error Tuesday, indicating a toss-up between candidates.
Trump has a slight edge with leads in Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina and Wisconsin.
Harris leads in Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania.
She also maintained a 2.9-point lead over Trump nationwide as of Tuesday, according to The Hill and Decision Desk HQ‘s polling average.
After his stop in Chicago, Trump will attempt to tackle another Democratic stronghold in Atlanta, where he’ll speak to residents on the state’s first day of early voting.