President Trump will take up the issue of affordability for Americans this week. But the trip comes at a time when his words and actions often appear inconsistent.
On the one hand, Trump and his team continue to deny the widespread feeling among many Americans that day-to-day costs are becoming increasingly unmanageable.
“I think the president is frustrated with the media coverage of what’s going on,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation” about the concerns, arguing that inflation concerns are overblown.
Bessant also brushed off the latest CBS poll results, which showed that only 36% of voters approved of the president’s handling of the economy and only 32% rated his handling of inflation positively.
Trump and his team, on the other hand, have taken a series of actions that clearly acknowledge that affordability is not just a media creation.
In recent weeks, the president has lifted some tariffs on grocery store items. He also floated ideas like $2,000 duty rebate checks and even a 50-year mortgage to lower monthly costs.
Just last weekend, the White House announced a new initiative to address “the risk of price manipulation and anti-competitive behavior in the food supply chain.”
The two competing impulses are expected to be on display during the president’s stop in northeastern Pennsylvania on Tuesday, where his team said he will focus on his economic record and efforts to end inflation. He may also announce new initiatives to address affordability issues.
The event is expected to be followed by more travel in the coming weeks.
Read more: How to protect your savings from inflation
The president has frequently said in recent weeks that he personally believes his affordability issues are a perception rather than a real pain point that he needs to take any new steps to address.
Last Wednesday, Trump said in the Oval Office that “affordability is the Democrats’ biggest hoax” and claimed that his previous actions proved he was someone who truly cared about the issue.
“You’re going to see these results very soon,” Trump said.
In other cases, the president has even dismissed polls that show Americans are worried. When the president was pressed recently on Fox News about Americans’ anxieties, he fired back, calling the polls “fake.”
It’s just one of a variety of messages, ranging from false claims that prices are falling to recent arguments that inflation is now in a “sweet spot” after surging under Biden. The latest inflation data – the Consumer Price Index for September – shows inflation holding stubbornly at 3% annualized.
