President Donald Trump blasted Democrats over their affordability focus in a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, saying their policies brought historic inflation that he is working to bring down and continues to concern Americans.
“The word affordability is a Democrat scam,” Trump said. “They say it and then they go into the next subject and everyone thinks, ‘oh, they had lower prices.’ No, they had the worst inflation in the history of our country.”
Trump said that since January, the administration has “stopped inflation in its tracks” and acknowledged that “there is still more to do” as inflation is “going to down a little bit further.” He also pointed to lower gas prices and mortgage rates, as well as cheaper food items like eggs.
Inflation surged to the highest level in 40 years, reaching 9.1% in June 2022 amid COVID-19-related supply chain disruptions and stimulus spending by the federal government, before gradually declining over the last few years. Despite that progress, inflation remains above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target and has risen in recent months.
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The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ consumer price index (CPI) showed that inflation was 3% in January when Trump returned to the White House, and declined to 2.3% in April – which was the lowest level since March 2021.
However, inflation has rebounded in recent months and returned to 3% in September, the last month for which data was published.
The inflation rebound coincides with the Trump administration’s rollout of higher tariffs, as U.S. importers deal with the higher costs from import taxes by passing some of those costs on to consumers through higher prices.
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Voters have been skeptical of the Trump administration’s economic policies, with a Fox News poll finding last month that 76% of respondents rated national economic conditions as either “not so good” or “poor” in their views.
They also indicated negative views about their personal financial situations, with 60% rating them as not good or poor, while 40% said they’re in good or excellent shape financially.
A 61% majority of voters said they disapprove of how Trump is handling the economy, while 38% expressed approval. While 77% of Republicans said they approve of the president’s handling of the economy, just 25% of independents and 6% of Democrats expressed approval.
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Over half of respondents, 52%, said that prices are “not at all” under control, with just 18% of voters saying inflation is completely or mostly under control, and 29% saying it’s somewhat under control.
Grocery costs were a particular pain point, with 85% saying they’ve increased over the past year.
Other areas of household budgets causing financial strain with higher prices than last year were utility bills and healthcare costs, as well as housing costs, with at least two-thirds of respondents reporting higher costs in those categories.
Gas prices are an area where voters who responded to the survey reported more relief, as just 54% reported price increases and 30% said their gas costs have decreased in the last year.
