Trump slams 'stupid people,' defends economic record in Pennsylvania rally [View all]
Source: USA Today
Updated Dec. 9, 2025, 10:54 p.m. ET
MOUNT POCONO, Pa. — President Donald Trump said during his first domestic rally in months that critics of his frequent travel abroad are "stupid people" who don't understand the financial windfalls he's securing for Americans. Trump delivered the terse censure at a packed Dec. 9 rally as he seeks to beat back complaints that he hasn't been focused enough on the economy. Between 600 and 700 people attended.
"They said, he shouldn’t be traveling, he should focus on home," Trump said of the complaints coming from some on the right. "What the hell do they think I’m doing?” The president said that it's “the stupid people” saying he shouldn’t be leaving the country. “Yeah, let’s sit around and twiddle our thumbs," he remarked.
The event kicks off nearly a year of stops the White House says Trump will be making across the United States ahead of the 2026 midterms. Republicans' majority in the House and Senate and the term-limited president's legacy is on the line. "This is being covered like all over the world, this is crazy, because I haven't made a speech in a little while," Trump admitted. "You know, when you win, you say, I can now rest."
GOP strategists and top advisers to Trump have warned that without the president on the ballot, his voters are likely to stay at home, leading to losses in areas that depend on a strong Republican turnout. Referring to his chief of staff Susie Wiles as "Susie Trump," the president acknowledged at the rally that she was among the advisers who told him he has to start campaigning again.
Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/12/09/trump-economy-defense-restarts-rallies/87692787007/
"Packed"? A number of 600 - 700 is considered "packed"? I guess in a high school auditorium or something.
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