White House Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair revealed to the Daily Caller what the administration’s top line messaging is heading into the 2026 midterms following President Donald Trump’s State of the Union.
The president set the tone for the 2026 midterms during his Tuesday State of the Union, drawing a sharp contrast between his administration and former President Joe Biden’s time in office. Blair told the Caller that the GOP will build on that messaging, though they will focus on how they can make life more affordable for Americans. (RELATED: Trump Puts Democrats On Defense In Patriotic, Disciplined SOTU)
“The message going into the rest of the year is that we want to keep making life more affordable for working families again,” Blair told the Caller.
“Look, under Joe Biden and the Democrats’ reckless policies, we got four decade-high inflation, to get a 30 year mortgage, a fixed rate mortgage, was almost 8%. Now that’s in the fives, it’s dropped below 6%, and just a year into office,” Blair continued, listing other economic stats including the drop of gas prices.
Blair told the Caller that the GOP will emphasize to voters that they need to be elected in 2026 and beyond to avoid a repetition of Biden and other Democrat policies. The approach is similar to how the president set out to remind Americans on Tuesday night of the policies under Biden before he came into office for the second time
“I think reminding voters that there is another side of this coin, that things don’t just get better on their own,” Blair told the Caller.
“A great example of that is the border. Remember when the Democrats and Joe Biden were saying, ‘well, we’ve got to change the laws, and that will help us get the border under control.’ We didn’t change any laws. We just got a new president and Republicans in Congress, and we started enforcing border security,” he continued, adding that if Democrats are elected in 2026 and beyond they can work to “roll those policies back” and revert progress that has been made.
The Caller interviewed Blair at the White House’s media row following the president’s State of the Union address. The full interview, which includes more of the administration’s plans for the midterms, how the president prepares for his big speeches and what Blair really thinks about Democratic Texas state Rep. James Talarico and Democratic Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett, can be viewed below:
.@DailyCaller interviewed White House Deputy Chief of Staff @JamesBlairUSA on Wednesday.
— Reagan Reese (@reaganreese_) February 25, 2026
He revealed the administration's message going into the 2026 midterms, how the president prepares for big speeches + what he really thinks of Rep. Talarico and Rep. Jasmine Crockett. pic.twitter.com/ob5FN7Hhkq
