MARIETTA, Ga. – Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia said Saturday that President Donald Trump’s unsettled economic policy is the biggest problem facing his state, saying the “chaos and uncertainty” is hurting the ability of businesses and individuals to makes decisions for the future.

Ossoff, who’s gearing up to run for reelection in 2026, has been ramping up his criticism of Trump even as he says he will seek to work with Republicans and the Trump administration to deliver for Georgia. In his first four years, Ossoff tried to carve out a reputation as a traditional senator interested in advancing Georgia’s traditional interests, including its farmers and military bases.

The 38-year-old Ossoff defeated incumbent Republican Sen. David Perdue in a 2021 runoff that helped flip control of the Senate to Democrats for four years. He’s the only Democrat seeking reelection in 2026 who represents a state that Trump carried in 2024, making him a top target for Republicans seeking to defend their current Senate majority.

The Republican field is currently frozen, awaiting a decision from two-term Republican Gov. Brian Kemp on whether he will seek to unseat Ossoff. The Democrat declined to discuss how he would run against Kemp or any other Republican, saying only, “I am more than prepared for any challenger.”

He spoke in an interview with The Associated Press at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in the Atlanta suburb of Marietta, Georgia, following a meeting with students interested in appointments to military academies. Here are some excerpts from the conversation:

What’s the biggest problem facing Georgia today and what can you do about it as a senator?

OSSOFF: “Look, at this very moment as we conduct this interview, and of course, this can change by the hour depending upon the president’s whim, businesses are unable to invest with an understanding of what the rules of international trade will be from one hour or week or month to the next. Households are unable to plan their annual budgets because there’s so much chaos and uncertainty in the implementation of federal economic policy. This administration needs to clearly define its economic objectives, and it needs to competently implement its plan, whatever that plan may be. The fact that the White House does not even know what its policy is, and is with such unpredictability and chaos, lurching from one policy to the other, is putting the state’s economy at serious economic risk.”

When you talk about President Trump’s authoritarian impulses, is he a threat to our democratic system?

OSSOFF: “I think it’s clear. We have never seen a president try to wield the federal government to crush his critics and political adversaries. That’s something new in American history, and it is, in my view, un-American. And it’s something that should chill us to the bone, no matter our politics, no matter our policy preferences. And with every new exercise of unprecedented presidential power, what I remind my Republican colleagues and my Republican and conservative friends and supporters here in Georgia, is that one day again there will be a Democratic president in the White House, and the shoe will be on the other foot. This is about checks and balances. This is about whether or not the executive branch is constrained as designed by our Constitution, by judicious legislators who can put their partisanship aside to protect the public interest.”

What is the best approach for the Democratic Party in this time when you have limited power?

OSSOFF: “When I see the president trying to advance a legislative agenda, the substance of which is slashing the vital health care programs that fund Georgia hospitals — for example, in Georgia, the Medicaid program covers 40% of all kids, Medicaid covers 50% of all births, Medicaid covers 70% of all seniors in nursing homes. The president of the United States wants to gut the Medicaid program to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest people in the country. That’s not a popular program in any part of Georgia. Closing down Social Security offices, gutting the Social Security Administration and the VA, these aren’t popular in any part of Georgia. So part of my job right now is to inform the public here that these policies are not in our state’s interest and rally opposition to them.”

You were one of 12 Senate Democrats who voted for the Laken Riley Act. Why was that the right thing to do?

Ossoff repeated support for the law, named after slain Georgia nursing student whose name became a rallying cry during Trump’s 2024 campaign, that requires the detention of unauthorized immigrants accused of theft and violent crimes. Prosecutors said Riley was killed in February 2024 by Venezuelan migrant Jose Antonio Ibarra, now convicted of murder.

OSSOFF: “My view is that the American people expect and deserve secure borders. And I think the Biden administration failed in its border policies. The American people expect and deserve for people who enter this country illegally and may pose a threat to public safety or national security to be apprehended by the authorities. But the American people don’t support and don’t expect federal police raids on elementary schools and hospitals and churches. And don’t except our military installations to become mass prison camps for immigrants. And don’t want entire families rounded up with no due process. We just learned yesterday about a 2-year-old U.S. citizen, a 2-year-old girl, who was deported without due process. Our immigration policy needs to be responsible and serious. It also needs to be humane.”

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This story has been corrected to say a 2-year-old girl was deported. A previous version incorrectly used the word “supported.”

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