Trump Defends Economy, Touts Crowds as Midterms Near

President Donald Trump pointed to strong economic indicators and heavy campaign activity as key factors for the Republican Party ahead of the upcoming midterm elections.

"I was in Iowa, helping them campaign a little bit for the thing that we have coming up," Trump said during an interview this week with Time magazine , describing enthusiastic support he has seen from voters while traveling for the elections.

"Yesterday I got tremendous applause from massive crowds that came to Duncan ... I went to Tennessee," he added. "The crowd went wild.

"I went to, yesterday, to Chicago. Got the big golf tent ... the crowd went absolutely wild."

Trump maintained that public reaction to his administration's economic policies and job numbers would drive voter sentiment, despite ongoing friction with the Federal Reserve over interest rate policy.

"We had great job numbers two weeks ago, right?" Trump said, noting that employment growth came in strong. "Our nation is going through a growth explosion like no nation's ever seen."

Addressing national debt and affordability concerns raised as campaign issues, Trump blamed the economic conditions on his predecessor while pointing to his efforts to lower prescription drug costs.

"When I took over, I inherited the greatest inflation in history. I inherited the greatest price hikes in history," Trump said. "I've gotten much of it down.

"The only thing I have to get down now is the gas, and almost everything else is coming down rapidly."

Trump expressed confidence in the public's evaluation of his presidency as voters prepare to head to the polls. "The public is very smart," Trump said. "If I wasn't doing a good job, I wouldn't have won that election by a lot."

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