‘The Golden Era’: Trump touts $18T investment, steel revival in North Georgia

ROME, Ga. - President Donald Trump made a stop in North Georgia on Thursday to promote his economic accomplishments, calling it a "Golden Era of America." Trump's visit comes amid an all-important special election to fill the congressional seat left vacant by Marjorie Taylor Greene.

While this is not an official campaign visit, Trump openly endorsed numerous Georgia candidates and touted the achievements of Georgia Republicans as concerns grow that Congress could be flipped by or after the midterms.

Trump greeted by Georgia football stars

What we know:

President Trump was greeted at the airport by Georgia’s Gunner Stockton and Herschel Walker. Trump is expected to focus on the economy, but concerns over ICE and his comments about sending the National Guard into Atlanta remain. Additionally, he could expand upon comments he made earlier during his stop at the iconic Atlanta drive-in about voter identification.

Trump: ‘Tariff is my favorite word'

What they're saying:

Speaking to workers at Kusa Steel, Trump highlighted the impact of his administration's 50% tariffs on foreign steel, which he said rescued companies from bankruptcy caused by subsidized products being "dumped" on the U.S. market.

"Without tariffs, this country would be in such trouble right now," Trump said. "It's my favorite word in the whole dictionary."

Andrew Seville, president of Kusa Steel, joined Trump on stage to describe the company’s dramatic turnaround. Seville noted that before the tariffs, the tire rack industry was "decimating" in America as business moved to China.

"In October of 2025, we landed our first huge tire rack deal that we had in 10 years," Seville said. He added that the plant is now operating two shifts, six days a week, with plans to expand to a third.

Trump used the visit to a local steel mill Thursday to announce a sweeping ban on institutional investors buying single-family homes, part of a broader push to lower housing costs. He said he recently signed an executive order to stop Wall Street firms from buying up residential properties, a practice he blamed for pricing families out of the market.

"America will not become a nation of renters," Trump said, noting that Georgia has been particularly impacted by large investors purchasing tens of thousands of homes. He further attributed high costs to the "Biden border invasion," but claimed that since his administration stopped the influx eight months ago, rent prices have hit four-year lows.

The president also detailed aggressive tactics used to lower prescription drug prices by as much as 90%. Trump described threatening foreign leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, with 100% tariffs on goods like wine and champagne to force them into "favored nation" drug pricing agreements.

On healthcare, Trump proposed bypassing insurance companies to pay trillions of dollars directly into citizens' healthcare accounts, though he claimed Democrats are "captive to the insurance company" and resistant to the plan.

"Nobody's ever seen anything like it," Trump said. "Because we were paying the highest drug prices in the world, and now we're paying whatever the lowest prices in world."

"America is back," Trump concluded. "Our economy is roaring. And our country is respected again."

Trump cited this as evidence of a broader economic boom, claiming his administration has secured $18 trillion in investment commitments in just 11 months, compared to less than $1 trillion under the previous administration.

The visit also served to promote the Working Families Tax Cut. Local small-business owner Kirkland Cowan, who operates GMC Value Mart, praised the bill’s "100% expensing" and bonus depreciation rules.

"They allow us to reinvest in equipment, which doesn’t just help owners to help keep prices down," Cowan said.

Trump also highlighted "Trump Accounts," tax-free investment accounts for children. He announced that Michael and Susan Dell have funded these accounts with $6.25 billion, aiming to support 25 million children.

Trump addressed supporters alongside sports legends Herschel Walker and University of Georgia quarterback Gunnar Stockton. During his remarks, Walker urged voters to "save America," specifically citing his opposition to men competing in women’s sports.

Earlier, during Trump's visit to Rome, he stopped at a popular Georgia drive-in, The Varsity, where he told reporters, "We're going to clean it up," in reference to the voting system.

"They came in, they took all those ballots; all those crooked ballots were taken," Trump said. "And the Democrats are fighting like hell. They don’t want anyone to see those ballots. Let’s see what happens."

Those comments come more than three weeks after the FBI raided the Fulton County Elections headquarters in an effort to find wrongdoing in the 2020 election, which saw Trump being defeated by Joe Biden. Trump has long claimed the election was stolen, with Georgia being one of the states he has often focused in on. He accused Democrats of hiring "a massive team of lawyers" to prevent the public from seeing ballots because "they cheated like dogs."

Trump also quipped that it was a "shame" the former prince, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of public corruption.

Trump pledges to ‘restore Georgia values’

The backstory:

Trump's economic speech comes amid laments that he does not get enough credit for it. The White House has been signaling that he would focus more on improving the economy and affordability. Looming over his speech are concerns over the special election to fill the seat in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District. Former Rep. Greene resigned in January amid a very public rift with the president over the release of the Epstein files and her concerns that his administration was not doing enough to focus on an America First agenda.

The field has shortened only slightly from the original 22 candidates. In Georgia, there are no primaries in special elections, which leads to a free-for-all that is almost always decided in a runoff.

Early voting began in the race on Monday. Trump officially endorsed Air Force veteran Clayton Fuller for the 14th District seat, calling him a "total winner" during the speech. 

Fuller, a former prosecutor, returned the praise, calling Trump "the greatest president in our country's history." In a lighthearted moment, Fuller asked Trump to "pardon" his daughter, Tallulah, for getting detention to attend the speech; Trump obliged, telling her, "You are fully pardoned. Don't worry."

Democrats are hoping the wide field, which is dominated by Republican candidates, plus the current approval rating of the president, will give them a shot at flipping the seat.

Throughout the event, Trump targeted political rivals and advocated for election reforms, including mandatory voter ID and the elimination of most mail-in ballots.

He specifically criticized Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff, calling him a "stiff" and noting that Ossoff and other Democrats voted against the tax cuts. Trump endorsed Matt Collins to replace Ossoff and praised other Georgia representatives, including Brian Jack, Mike Collins, and Barry Loudermilk, who joined him on stage.

"We’re going to restore Georgia values," said Rep. Mike Collins. "We're going to continue to take our country back."

Trump also offered his "complete and total endorsement" to Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones, whom he praised as "solid as a rock."

Georgia special election

What's next:

The special election date is March 10, with the likely runoff on April 7.