Client confidence is up. Fears of a recession are abating. The economic system is rising. And a corroded bridge in Wisconsin is receiving extra funding.

It’s a wintry mixture of constructive information for President Biden, who traveled to the shores of a bay close to Lake Superior on Thursday to face on the foot of the Blatnik Bridge, a construction that his administration stated would have failed by 2030 and not using a $1 billion infusion offered by the bipartisan infrastructure legislation that Mr. Biden championed.

The president was there to speak infrastructure and the economic system, and to distinction his efficiency with that of his predecessor and certain common election challenger, former President Donald J. Trump.

“The financial progress is stronger than we had throughout the Trump administration,” Mr. Biden, wearing an informal pullover sweater, stated as he addressed Wisconsinites assembled at Earth Rider Brewery in Superior, Wis. “We clearly have extra work to do, however we’re making actual progress.”

Because the president spoke, Mr. Trump was taking the stand in a defamation trial in New York, providing a putting split-screen comparability that the Biden marketing campaign has welcomed.

Mr. Biden and his advisers consider initiatives just like the Blatnik, going down within the backyards of People residing in battleground states like Wisconsin, might be sufficient to bolster optimism and overcome pervasive skepticism in regards to the state of the economic system.

In his occasion, Mr. Biden talked in regards to the $6.1 billion that had been invested in Wisconsin and the $5.7 billion in Minnesota, positioned simply over the bridge, which helps agriculture, transport and forestry industries within the higher Midwest. The Blatnik had corroded and been clogged with building and detours.

“For many years individuals talked about changing this bridge, nevertheless it by no means received accomplished,” Mr. Biden stated. “Till right now.”

Bipartisan legislation or not, no Republican lawmakers assembled to greet Mr. Biden. (“I’m sorry to say the overwhelming majority voted towards it,” Mr. Biden stated, a quantity that features Rep. Tom Tiffany, a Republican representing the district the place the bridge is positioned.)

The Democratic governors of each Wisconsin and Minnesota confirmed up. “This could not have occurred with out Biden,” Gov. Tony Evers of Wisconsin informed attendees.

A number of different Democrats, together with Senator Tina Smith of Minnesota and Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, accompanied the president as he noticed the bridge and, later, met with individuals at a taproom subsequent to the brewery. Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota sipped a glass of beer as she mingled subsequent to Mr. Biden.

Even with out no-show Republicans, who’re shortly closing ranks round Mr. Trump, there are different headwinds to beat.

Mr. Biden has confronted low approval rankings on the economic system. And he has been criticized by different Democrats over whether or not it was sensible of him to undertake Bidenomics as a namesake effort to take credit score for an economic system that People have repeatedly signaled they don’t really feel enthusiastic about.

On Thursday, Mr. Biden didn’t appear to be feeling any qualms. Within the brewery, he stood in entrance of a pole that had letters spelling “Bidenomics,” and assailed Mr. Trump for “hollowed-out communities, closing down factories, leaving People behind.”

For his half, Mr. Trump has attacked Mr. Biden on nearly all the pieces, however has additionally falsely claimed that low employment numbers beneath the Biden administration usually are not actual.

Elsewhere within the Midwest, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen took uncommon goal at Mr. Trump throughout a speech in Chicago.

“Our nation’s infrastructure has been deteriorating for many years,” Ms. Yellen stated. “Within the Trump administration, the thought of doing something to repair it was a punchline.”

There was reality to her remark. Throughout Mr. Trump’s presidency, he would typically veer away from infrastructure-related speeches to assault his enemies. In his first Infrastructure Week-themed occasion in 2017, he accused James B. Comey, whom he had fired as F.B.I. director, of committing perjury and of leaking to the information media. He later proposed a $2 trillion infrastructure package deal with out specifics on how he’d get the cash. The phrase “Infrastructure Week” grew to become a working joke in Washington.

In November 2021, Mr. Biden signed a $1.2 trillion infrastructure invoice into legislation.

“As an alternative of infrastructure week, America is having an infrastructure decade,” Mr. Biden stated, referring to the work his administration has accomplished.

In a present of how vital Wisconsin will likely be forward of the election in November, Mr. Biden traveled there simply three days after Vice President Kamala Harris started a nationwide tour for reproductive rights in an occasion outdoors Milwaukee. Wisconsin is a battleground state the place his marketing campaign is specializing in courting Black voters, younger voters and any voters who may assist him wrest the state’s 10 electoral votes from Mr. Trump.

Although Mr. Trump was in court docket, the Republican Nationwide Committee launched an announcement criticizing Mr. Biden for making the journey and blaming Bidenomics for financial issues.

“With staggering inflation and negative economic growth, Wisconsinites are feeling the brunt of Joe Biden’s failures,” the group’s chairman, Ronna McDaniel, stated in an announcement. “Strive as he may, it’s too little, too late to impress staff and households who’re residing paycheck to paycheck due to Bidenomics.”

Alan Rappeport contributed reporting from Washington.