With the midterms just weeks away and Democrats picking up Latino support, President Trump hosted a Hispanic Heritage Month reception at the White House on Wednesday.
He said Hispanics were “hard-working,” “smart” and “energetic — sometimes too energetic.” He invited them to tour the construction site where his ballroom is being built, but warned them not to fall over the edge.
“Only a Hispanic could survive that fall,” he said. “So I’m not overly worried.”
But for most of Mr. Trump’s nearly hourlong remarks, he veered far from the topic of the event. He spoke about his ballroom, and how a renovation project like that “relaxes me, actually.” He talked about the war in Iran and how successfully it was going, and he lamented that the party in power often takes a hit in the midterm elections.
“But I’m thrilled to have you at the White House celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month,” he said at the 22-minute mark, acknowledging that “I said that a little late in the speech.”
Mr. Trump’s remarks offered a glimpse into how his attempts to help his party in the midterms often clash with his familiar brand of personality-driven politics, especially at a moment when many of his policies have proved unpopular.
He made only fleeting references to issues like immigration and the economy that are dragging down his approval ratings, complained that he was not getting enough credit for his policies and made sporadic pleas to his supporters to help paint a rosier picture of the state of the country than data is showing.
“We’re doing an extremely poor job of promotion and an extremely great job of running the country itself,” Mr. Trump said. The president even took some responsibility, saying, “I’ve done a very bad job of explaining how good the country is doing.”
Mr. Trump’s approval rating among Hispanics has plummeted to 26 percent in the most recent New York Times/Siena poll. Just two years after concerns about rising prices propelled Mr. Trump to victory, only 8 percent of Hispanic voters approved of his handling of the cost of living in the poll, while 18 percent approved on the economy. His approval rating on immigration, at 26 percent, was also dismal.
Hispanic voters could drastically transform the midterm map. In an average of high-quality national polls over the last month, Democrats led Republicans among likely Hispanic voters by 35 percentage points, 64 to 29, on the generic congressional ballot, according to a Times analysis.
In recent weeks, Mr. Trump has faced rare and public criticism from his Republican allies, who have come out staunchly against his immigration policies.
María Elvira Salazar, who represents Florida’s 27th District, a heavily Cuban area in Miami-Dade County that voted for Mr. Trump by 15 points, ran an advertisement where she presented Mr. Trump’s immigration policies as a betrayal.
In the television ad, she addressed Mr. Trump, telling him “the same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today.”
Senator Jim Justice, Republican of West Virginia, told Politico this week that Mr. Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweeps were disrupting agriculture communities. “You’re dragging people away that have lived on your street corner for 15 years, and I don’t know that we need to be doing that kind of stuff,” he said. “To get better, the first thing you got to do is admit you’re doing something wrong.”
At the Hispanic Heritage event, Mr. Trump appeared to defend himself and ICE against the recent criticism.
“Frankly, it’s the hardest job I’ve had,” he said. “The hardest job, because they’ll say you’re too tough or you’re too soft. Get tougher, get softer. No matter what you do, it’s always tough. But we have, we’ve been very strong.”
Mr. Trump received a warm reception from the crowd, which included Hispanic leaders, supporters and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Some in the crowd cheered him on and jeered at the mention of his political opponents. Mr. Trump concluded his remarks by pleading with the attendees to take their message to the polls, even if they do not like the candidates.
“It’s a vote for good things,” he said.
“So again, we got to get out and vote,” he said. “You got to spread the word — how well we’re doing — just, everybody has to. We have to turn this around.”
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