After taking a few wrong exits off the I-95 on the way to the White House, in recent days, Donald Trump is totally back on message. 

Hat-tip to Michael McKenna, writing in the Washington Times that Mr. Trump gave a strong, policy-oriented interview with Breitbart, then posting on X a solid critique of the economy and immigration, then his conversation with Elon Musk.

And yesterday, his "intellectual speech" on the economy in Asheville, N.C. — all of it good. As an aside, Mr. Trump is who he is. He is authentic, he does listen to his friends, but he also has a tremendous store of knowledge regarding the key policy messages that hit voters in their gut and will win this election. 

In fairness to him, for over two years, in his historic political comeback, he has repeatedly stayed on message regarding tax cuts, deregulation, "drill, baby, drill," closing the border and putting out foreign fires.

And even recent polls by NY Times-Siena and Fox show him doing very well across the board, but doing even better in the breakdown for both White and non-White working-class voters, plus strong leads on issues including the economy, the border, foreign policy and crime. 

PARAMOUNT BEGINS LAYING OFF 15% OF WORK FORCE, HUNDREDS EXPECTED TO BE CUT    

The Kamala Harris boomlet is really a lot more hype than reality. Now, in North Carolina, he talked at some length about bringing down energy and electricity costs by unlocking the fossil fuel spigots — and "drill, baby, drill," and he linked that with his pledge to curb inflation and bring down prices with a whole of government approach. 

People don't realize how much fossil fuel–related costs permeate the entire economy. I always keep a list in my folder from the Energy Department of slightly less than 200 items linked to petroleum. 

Things like anti-histamines, ballpoint pens, beach umbrellas, cell phones, computers, dog collars, eyeglasses, golf bags, purses, shampoo, shaving cream, solar panels, tennis racquets, toothpaste, clothing — to name a few. So, by deregulating the fossil fuel sector and encouraging more production, prices could fall from, say, $80 a barrel to perhaps somewhere around $40. That would slash costs literally throughout the economy.  

That's what Mr. Trump is getting at. Also in North Carolina, Mr. Trump emphasized his Tax Cuts 2.0, along with slashing regulations, curbing federal spending, promoting growth and — like he did so well at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee — Mr. Trump in North Carolina was growthier — talking about growth and more growth. 

FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP: Our current massive deficits will be reduced to practically nothing. Our country will be powered by growth. Our country will be powered by growth. We’ll pay off our debt. We'll have all this income coming in.

He understands that growth dissolves deficits and debt, and that growth from the supply side of the economy will also curb inflation by producing more goods, and on trade, he emphasized the principle of reciprocity by saying "we're going to have 10–20% on foreign countries that have been ripping us off for years" — but he did not mention anything about baseline tariffs. 

Reciprocity is a far better policy than protectionism. Mr. Trump is dedicating himself to ending the Biden-Harris affordability crisis, where prices have risen faster than paychecks and real wages have fallen.

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Mr. Trump is saying he did it once with a successful pro-growth policy, and he's ready to do it even better a second time. Meanwhile, Kamala Harris is flip-flopping her way to a discredited and goofy policy of price controls and war on business in general. On that, nobody will take her seriously. 

At bottom, here's the crucial question, in Mr. Trump's own words: "Are you better off now with Harris and Biden than you were with a person named President Donald J. Trump?" 

This article is adapted from Larry Kudlow’s opening commentary on the August 15, 2024, edition of "Kudlow."