ROCKY MOUNT, North Carolina: US President Donald Trump traveled to ​the “battleground” state of North Carolina on Friday, seeking to convince Americans that his handling of the economy is sound ahead of a midterm election year that could spell trouble for him and his ruling Republicans.

With prices increasing and unemployment up, Trump has his work cut out for him. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday showed just 33 percent of US adults approve of how Trump has handled the economy.

Trump is set to argue that the US economy is poised for a surge due to his policies and that any problems they are experiencing are the fault of ‌the Democrats.

He contends ‌that he has lowered the price of gasoline, imposed tariffs ‌that ⁠are ​generating ‌billions of dollars for the US Treasury and attracted hundreds of billions of dollars in investment pledges by foreign governments.

Republicans worry, however, that economic woes could jeopardize their chances in elections next November that will decide whether they will keep control of the House of Representatives and the Senate for the remaining two years of Trump’s term.