SUFFERN, New York — Can President Donald Trump be an asset in one of the country’s most competitive House races?
“Mr. SALT” thinks so.
Trump touched down Friday in Republican Rep. Mike Lawler’s district — viewed as critical to determining whether Republicans keep control of the House — to tout affordability moves from the administration. Embracing Trump poses serious political risks for the two-term incumbent, especially as the president faces brutalapproval ratings amid the war in Iran and rising gas prices.
But as voters remain anxious about rising costs, Trump — speaking to thousands of attendees in the gymnasium of Rockland Community College — sought to change the economic conversation to instead focus on the benefits of expanding the state and local tax deduction, a push that Lawler was at the forefront of last year.
“He didn’t stop. This guy was a pain in the ass. It was terrible,” Trump said of Lawler, who he referred to as “Mr. SALT.” “You’re lucky to have him in this community. … With the help of your great congressman, what happened? We got your taxes cut, not only from the standpoint of SALT, but your taxes were cut, your take-home pay has soared.”
It may be a gamble to invite Trump to a battleground district that then-Vice President Kamala Harris won in 2024. But, as Lawler put it, “when the president of the United States wants to come to your district, you show up.” And making the connection for voters that tax refunds from the SALT deduction — which hit wallets in recent weeks — can be attributed in part to Lawler, is a big boost for the incumbent, some Republicans argued.
Lawler’s political brand — a moderate Republican who has managed to walk the line of speaking out against some of Trump’s policies while not getting on the president’s bad side — was on full display at Friday’s event. He noted how Democrats in 2024 spent heavily to label him “MAGA Mike” — while some Republicans have called him a ”traitorous RINO” because they didn’t like his voting record.
“I’m a Republican who actively works with common-sense Democrats on key issues, someone who is not afraid to challenge his own party’s leaders when I believe they are wrong or acting against the interests of the Hudson Valley,” Lawler said in his speech. He added that he “understands that to get things done in Congress,” a member needs “to have a strong working relationship with the president of the United States.”
Like Trump, other speakers showered Lawler with praise, including Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman — Republicans’ gubernatorial nominee — who said people should be “very grateful” that Lawler “fought for the middle class families in New York State.” And Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick called the representative a “patriot” who, working with Trump, delivered “the largest tax cut in American history.”
“You’ve got to remember: These were all Republicans; no Democrats voted for your tax cuts,” Lutnick said. “Zero.”
Democrats have sharply criticized the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, particularly for deep Medicaid cuts, and are hoping it will drag down Republicans in the midterms.
“Nothing says ‘I don’t care about my district’ quite like Mike Lawler bringing Donald Trump to NY-17 to tout a disastrous economy that’s crushing working families at every turn,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Riya Vashi said in a statement, accusing Lawler of “bearhugging the unpopular architect of this economic disaster.”
The DCCC’s GOP counterpart offered a starkly different view: “While radical Democrats have spent years making New York one of the most expensive and unaffordable states in the nation, President Trump and Mike Lawler have worked tirelessly to right the ship,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Maureen O’Toole said in a statement. “Thanks to their efforts, Hudson Valley families saw the SALT deduction quadruple, their paycheck grow, and taxes go down.”
Democrats are waging a messy primary to determine who will ultimately take on Lawler, with five candidates in the mix for the June contest. They questioned whether the expansion of the SALT deduction will really help district residents struggling with high pocketbook costs.
“Don’t fall for the lies,” Army veteran Cait Conley told POLITICO after a rally protesting the Trump event that featured all five Democratic candidates. “Mike Lawler voted to make a permanent tax on New Yorkers, and the lift from $10,000 to $40,000 is temporary. Five years from now, when Mike Lawler is off running for governor or Senate, families here are going to get screwed.”
Rockland County Legislator Beth Davidson called Lawler’s moves on the SALT cap “one more way in which [he] just bent to Donald Trump” because he didn’t get rid of the cap altogether. “A little SALT doesn’t make the rest of the agenda go down any better,” she said.
And Tarrytown trustee Effie Phillips-Staley claimed that she doesn’t even “hear about the SALT tax,” saying instead that constituents she speaks with are more worried about housing, food and gas prices.
Lawler pushed back on those criticisms, telling POLITICO that if Democrats “had their way, we would have had the largest tax increase in American history.”
“They would have allowed everything to expire. They would have allowed the rates to double. They would have allowed the standard deduction to be cut in half, the child tax credit to be cut,” he said. “So I don’t need any advice from them when it comes to taxes. … These people, when they talk about issues of affordability, are not honest or sincere in any way. I’ve yet to hear them criticize one thing that New York State does when it comes to driving up costs year over year over year over year.”
Like many of Trump’s events, the president — who was interrupted by protesters a handful of times throughout the roughly 90 minute speech — told long anecdotes and hit on many of his regular talking points. He taunted Democrats, this time for the Democratic National Committee’s botched 2024 autopsy rollout: “I could’ve given them the autopsy without any charge at all,” he said.
On immigration, Trump expressed dissatisfaction with a package of measures New York state lawmakers passed Thursday that limit local police departments’ cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. And he touted the SAVE America Act, which would institute voter ID and proof-of-citizenship requirements for federal elections, and spoke out against transgender athletes competing in women’s sports.
Trump also shouted out a handful of other Republicans running this year: Blakeman; former state Assemblymember Mike LiPetri, who is looking to unseat Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi; state Sen. Peter Oberacker, who’s challenging Democratic Rep. Josh Riley; and businessperson Anthony Constantino, who’s running for the seat being vacated by Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik.
Trump issued a warning about what will happen if Democrats “gain power” after this year’s midterms: They’ll “take these deductions and tax cuts away.”
“Never forget, not a single Democrat in Congress voted to raise the SALT deduction,” Trump said. “Mike Lawler and all of his friends sitting up here fought them, and they voted against it.”
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