WASHINGTON (TNND) — President Donald Trump promised to lower prices for Americans who have been battered by inflation since the pandemic and blamed many of the nation’s ills on his predecessor in an address from the White House as he tries to combat mounting frustration heading into a midterm election year.
In a prime-time speech, Trump said his administration has made progress on lowering prices he argues were sent out of control under former President Joe Biden’s watch with more to come.
“Over the past 11 months, we have brought more positive change to Washington than any administration in American history. There’s never been anything like it,” Trump said.
His address comes as Americans have soured on the president and his handling of many of the key issues that drive voting decisions. He is underwater in approval on his handling of the economy and immigration — his signature issues — in a sign of trouble for Republicans in next year’s midterms. Democrats are hoping to capitalize on those frustrations to flip the House and Senate and appear to be heading into the year with favorable political dynamics with an unpopular president in office and mounting frustrations about the economy.
“America is respected. And our country is back stronger than ever before,” Trump said. “We’re poised for an economic boom, the likes of which the world has never seen.”
Trump’s approval rating on the economy hit a new low of 36% in an NPR-PBS News-Marist poll released on Wednesday that also found 70% of people have expenses that match or exceed their income every month. Seven in 10 also said the area they live is not very affordable or not affordable at all for the average family.
While the economy has maintained growth for much of the year, economists are concerned consumers may be unable to keep spending under the pressure of inflation and see cracks appearing in the labor market.
Job creation has sputtered since the introduction of Trump’s huge package of tariffs, falling from an average of nearly 123,000 a month in the first quarter of the year to 17,000 since. Unemployment has also climbed steadily upward to 4.6% as of November from 4% in January. While unemployment is still low by historical standards, it has added to concerns for people who are out of work and struggling to find a job. The rate at which wage growth has outpaced inflation has also gotten narrower as the year has gone on, squeezing budgets for cash-strapped households even further.
The White House has argued that commitments from companies to build more factories in the U.S. under tariff pressure will result in more job creation and reverse cuts in manufacturing jobs so far this year. Republicans are also betting on tax cuts and higher refunds from their tax and spending bill will help boost consumer activity that powers the American economy.
Trump also sought to flip the blame on expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies that were at the center of the record 43-day government shutdown on Democrats as Republicans in Congress are feeling the heat to address them or risk the wrath of voters come November. How to handle the expiring subsidies has sparked an intraparty fight after House GOP leadership pushed a bill through that does not touch the subsidies that will expire with the new year. The president has sought to use the funds that were going into subsidies into what would essentially be health savings account, though the idea has not gained enough traction to get through Congress.
“The current unaffordable Care Act was created to make insurance companies rich. It was bad health care at much to higher cost. And you see that now in the steep increase in premiums being demanded by the Democrats, and they are demanding those increases, and it’s their fault. It is not the Republicans fault,” he said.
While he did not provide any details on the plan, Trump said he would soon “announce some of the most aggressive housing reform plans in American history.” The cost of homeownership has exploded since the pandemic when ultra-low interest rates drastically expanded the pool of buyers for a limited supply of homes, sending sales prices skyrocketing in bidding wars that have not budged and are now being combined with mortgage rates around 6% that are pricing many out of the American Dream of homeownership.
Trump also blamed the surge in housing prices on illegal immigration under Biden’s watch. Multiple administration officials have blamed elevated levels of border crossings and illegal immigrants in the country for soaking up the nation’s housing supply and making things more expensive for Americans.
“The worst thing that the Biden administration did to our country is the invasion at the border. The last administration and their allies in Congress brought in millions and millions of migrants and gave them taxpayer-funded housing, while your rent and housing costs skyrocketed,” he said.
The White House has considered other policies to make homeownership attainable for more people like the introduction of 50-year mortgages and “portable loans,” where homebuyers could take their sub-3% interest rate to a new property, though the ideas were generally panned by housing analysts and in Congress. Getting mortgage rates down has been part of his push for the Federal Reserve to lower its benchmark interest rate that has been a source of frustration for him.
Fed officials most recently cut rates by 0.25% for a third straight meeting but have also signaled additional cuts could be harder to come by with inflation still running near 3%. The Fed’s unwillingness to cut at the rate Trump has sought has led the president to publicly muse about trying to oust chairman Jerome Powell, whose term will expire in the spring. Trump said in his speech he would announce his pick to replace Powell soon and would select “someone who believes in lower interest rates by a lot.”
Trump has made several other moves to try to address higher prices like signing agreements with drug companies to reduce list prices for prescriptions, reduced fuel efficiency standards to make new vehicles cheaper and tried to boost the production of fossil fuels to reduce energy costs. But inflation has been a lingering issue for the economy and even though his tariffs did not result in rampant price increases like initially feared, economists say businesses are starting to pass more of those costs onto consumers.
Trump also said he will be sending $1,776 bonus checks to troops for Christmas that he called a “warrior dividend” using funds from tariffs that have been the central pillar of his economic agenda.
“The checks are already on the way,” he said.
He has frequently suggested he would use revenues from the tariffs to provide cash directly to the American people through rebate checks or other means. While the tariffs have brought the U.S. significant revenue, clocking in at more than $200 billion since January, they have not raised enough funds to cover all the possible plans he has promoted.
His speech is the latest effort from the White House that has been trying to highlight their record to voters who pollsters have found to be growing more agitated about the state of the economy and Trump’s handling of inflation. The president traveled to Pennsylvania last week to give a speech about his accomplishments, is scheduled to make an appearance in North Carolina later this week and more are in the works across net year as the administration tries to drive up turn out in an election year where he is not on the ballot.
Administration officials are trying to walk a fine line in messaging on the economy and other achievements to a skeptical public that has grown more concerned about affording basic necessities and their ability to get or keep a job.
Vice President JD Vance was also in Pennsylvania on Tuesday to tout the administration’s policies and progress on remaking the country where he asked for patience to get the cost of living under control.
“Even though we’ve made incredible progress, we understand that there’s a lot more work to do, and the thing that I’d ask from the American people is a little bit of patience,” Vance said. “I promise you, there is no person more impatient to solve the affordability crisis than Donald J. Trump.”
Vance’s speech came a week after Trump visited the state to tout his record on the economy, which he rated “A+++++” in an interview with Politico.
