Why Trump needs Pittsburgh right now
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Trump with steelworkers at a rally in Latrobe in October 2024. Photo: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
President Trump is returning to one of his comfort zones Friday night: rallying with supporters in Southwestern Pennsylvania.
Why it matters: Trump's second term has been chaotic — announced and canceled tariffs, a tumultuous stock market, DOGE cuts and rapid-fire executive orders — but Pittsburgh could provide a refuge for him.
Driving the news: Trump is speaking in West Mifflin at 5pm to celebrate a multibillion-dollar agreement between U.S. Steel and Japan's Nippon Steel Co.
- "US Steel will REMAIN in America, and keep its Headquarters in the Great City of Pittsburgh," Trump posted on Truth Social last week.
Context: Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pittsburgh) told CNBC that the deal includes a $14 billion investment from Nippon, $2.4 billion of which will go to the Mon Valley, which hosts three U.S. Steel facilities.
Between the lines: Lew Irwin, a political science professor at Duquesne University, said Trump is comfortable in the Pittsburgh area — especially in towns hit hard by industrial decline — so he is keen to boast a new deal to deliver to these voters.
- "The Mon Valley is Donald Trump's base. It is ground zero of how Donald Trump got elected," Irwin said.
By the numbers: Friday's rally will be Trump's ninth visit to Southwestern Pennsylvania since July 2024.
- Since first running for office in 2015, Trump has visited the Pittsburgh area at least 20 times, according to campaign trackers and news reports.
State of play: Trump could also use a narrative shift away from his low approval ratings, the economic rollercoaster caused by his tariff rollout, and the news that Elon Musk is leaving his White House role, said Irwin.
- Trump is looking to reset the economic narrative back to delivering for his working-class base, which is something he campaigned on heavily in Pittsburgh over the years, Irwin said.
Flashback: Trump won the eight-county Pittsburgh metro area by a 4.5% margin in 2024, which was about 1 point higher than 2020, but about 1 point lower than 2016.
What's next: Trump will celebrate the U.S. Steel deal with the approval of local workers, but many details have not been made public, like the exact investment and terms of the merger.