Trump debuted a new affordability script. It’s unclear to advisers whether he’ll stick to it

The White House is heading into a critical midterm year beset by economic challenges, as it tries to manage stubbornly high prices, a frustrated electorate and a commander-in-chief who struggles to show sympathy toward voters’ pain.

For one night, at least, officials addressed one issue: getting President Donald Trump to stay on a scripted message — in-part about affordability — in an 18-minute primetime address to the nation.

The question as he heads to another campaign-style rally on Friday: Can they convince him to do it again? And will any of it change his party’s increasingly dire political fortunes?

Some Trump advisers on Thursday cheered the decision to put the president in front of a primetime audience, crediting the official setting and tight time constraints for producing the more focused economic speech they badly needed him to deliver.

Trump during the address acknowledged Americans’ affordability concerns while blaming his predecessor for the cost-of-living “mess.” He highlighted specific signs of progress, like lower gas and egg prices, while vowing brighter days were still ahead.

And while far from perfect — Trump sped through the speech, abruptly switching topics and sometimes taking an angry tone — he avoided the digressions and off-the-cuff claims of an affordability “hoax” that had until now drowned out the economic message his aides are desperate for voters to hear.

“It was good,” said one Trump adviser. “And one of the reasons why it was good was because he was more on the script than he is otherwise with these things.”