White House scrambles for affordability message amid still-high prices

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is scrambling to develop a plan and message on still-high prices after the White House appeared caught off guard by how the affordability issue helped drive Republican losses last Tuesday.

Trump appeared defensive on the matter last week, blaming GOP candidates and lawmakers for talking too little about how to make the cost of everything, from groceries to utility bills to medical care, more affordable. Democratic lawmakers have long contended that the president has done nothing to make things cheaper since he returned to office in January.

In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Trump suggested “affordability” was a new political buzzword invented by Democrats: “They have this new word called ‘affordability,’ and (Republicans) don’t talk about it enough. The Democrats did.”

After Republicans lost gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey, as well a host of other statewide and local races across the country, the GOP president expressed frustration with his party’s candidates — while also continuing to embellish economic data.

“We have prices down. Our country is doing well. The stock market is hitting record highs, like 48 times during my nine months,” Trump told Fox News.

“But, as Republicans, you have to talk about it,” he said. “It’s no good if we do a great job and you don’t talk about it.”

In the days since the Nov. 4 off-year elections, Trump has continued to push this narrative. He joined a Fox News broadcast team Sunday in the play-by-play booth in Landover, Maryland, during the Washington Commanders’ 44-22 loss to the Detroit Lions. He again insisted prices were down but wasn’t pressed on the claim by announcer Kenny Albert and former NFL player turned analyst Jonathan Vilma.

“People have spirit. Our stock market hit an all-time high,” he said when asked by Vilma for an assessment on how the country was doing. “We inherited a mess. Prices are coming way down. And I’ll tell you, our country has over $17 trillion being invested in it, which is a record. So we’re doing great.”

Those claims came three days after Trump grew noticeably snippy with reporters Thursday evening when pressed on prices during a working dinner with Central Asian leaders at the White House.

“So I don’t want to hear about the affordability because right now we’re much less. If you look at energy, we’re getting close to $2 a gallon gasoline. With Biden, it was $4.50, $5,” Trump said. AAA data shows the current national average for regular unleaded gasoline at $3.07 a gallon as of Monday.

And according to Trump’s own administration, prices of goods and services in a list of categories are significantly up over the past 12 months.

Medical care prices were up 3.3% from September 2024 through last month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The price of food climbed 3.1%, including a 2.7% hike for food purchased for home use, over the same period. Electricity prices were up 5.1%, while the price of piped gas services climbed 11.7%, according to the bureau.

Gasoline prices have come down, as Trump asserted, but he appears to have embellished the full impact, with the BLS data showing a 0.5% drop over the past 12 months. Fuel oil costs, however, have jumped 4.1%. Other things, such as the costs of shelter and transportation services, also increased by 3.6% and 2.5%, respectively, according to BLS data.

‘Struggling to get by’

Presented with price data from the bureau late last week and asked why Trump continued to claim otherwise, White House spokesman Kush Desai said in an email that “the administration’s supply-side economic agenda has already cooled inflation to a 2.5 percent annualized rate — half the average inflation rate under Joe Biden.”

“Americans are paying less for essentials like gas and eggs, and today the Administration inked yet another drug pricing deal to deliver unprecedented health care savings for everyday Americans,” Desai added, referring to Thursday’s deal to lower the cost of certain weight loss drugs. “As President Trump’s agenda of tax cuts, deregulation and energy abundance continues to take effect and real wages continue increasing, Americans can rest assured that the best is yet to come.”

The BLS data shows egg prices have dropped, but the opposite was true for meats, poultry and fish — prices of which, when grouped together, rose 6% from September 2024 through last month.

Democratic lawmakers and strategists have pounced on the issue, blaming the GOP’s undisputed leader.

“Across the country, the message of affordability was loud and clear and resonated with the American people who were facing record high prices thanks to the Trump agenda,” California Rep. Pete Aguilar, the No. 3 House Democrat, told reporters on Nov. 5.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., contended in a Thursday floor speech that “affordability was the top issue in Tuesday’s races.” Reacting to White House deputy chief of staff James Blair saying in an interview that Trump would focus more on prices next year, Schumer said, “Wow! Where has this guy been?”

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren took to social media to question why Trump would wait that long.

“Trump demolished part of the White House to build a ballroom in FOUR DAYS, but he won’t focus on affordability until NEXT YEAR,” she wrote. “Trump promised to lower costs on DAY ONE.”

Republican former Rep. Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania said in a telephone interview last week that Trump has appeared distracted by vanity projects and policy efforts that do not align with his “America first” campaign promises.

“Rather than showing off his ballroom plans, the president needs to be disciplined with an economic message. Building a ballroom at the White House isn’t relevant to most people’s lives. Most Americans will never step foot inside that ballroom. And it doesn’t impress them — it’s insulting,” he said. “They’re struggling to get by, and he’s building a party room. That stuff is for elites. You can’t fool the American people.”

Dent added, “How does building a fancy ballroom at the White House put food on my table? How does it pay my mortgage? How does it pay for my kids’ education? It doesn’t.”