Axios

President Trump's economic sales pitch is colliding with voters' sour moods on high prices and the economy as the 2026 midterms loom.

Why it matters: Economic frustration is giving Democrats an opening on the issue that often decides elections — and could help them erase Republicans' narrow congressional majorities in November.

What Axios' Alex Thompson is hearing from Democratic insiders about the party's most likely 2028 Democratic nominees, as told to Jim VandeHei for his weekly Axios C-Suite newsletter:

1. Kamala Harris. She is far ahead of every other contender with Black voters, still the most important voting bloc in a Democratic primary. Her allies argue that no one else is as prepared for a national campaign. She was a better candidate in 2024 than in 2020 and is working hard to be a better, more authentic, less cautious candidate in 2028. Harris is likely a beneficiary of Democrats' preliminary choice yesterday of South Carolina, instead of Nevada, for the first Democratic presidential primary of 2028.

Local backlash and reliability concerns are challenging the vision of an AI boom built quickly using large off-grid data centers.

Why it matters: If giant projects stumble, trillions of dollars in AI investment and the industry's plans to rapidly expand data centers could be at risk.