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President Donald Trump discusses inflation and the affordability crisis at a cabinet meeting.
president donald trump criticized Democrats for their focus on affordability at a cabinet meeting Tuesday, saying their policies led to historic inflation that he is working to reduce and that continues to worry Americans.
“The word affordability is a Democrat scam,” Trump said. “They say that and then they move on to the next issue 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’s still more to do” as inflation “comes down a little bit more.” He also pointed to lower gas prices and mortgage rates, as well as cheaper foods like eggs.
Inflation increased to the highest level in 40 years, reaching 9.1% in June 2022 amid supply chain disruptions related to COVID-19 and federal government stimulus spending, before gradually declining over the past few years. Despite this progress, inflation remains above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target and has risen in recent months.
VOTERS EXPRESS ECONOMIC CONCERNS ABOUT INFLATION As Costs Rise, Fox News Poll Finds
Trump criticized Democrats’ focus on affordability after inflation hit record highs. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
Office of Labor Statistics’ consumer price index (CPI) showed that inflation was 3% in January when Trump returned to the White House, and eased to 2.3% in April, which was the lowest level since March 2021.
However, inflation has recovered in recent months and has returned to 3% in Septemberthe last month for which the data was published.
The uptick in inflation coincides with the launch of the Trump administration higher ratesas US importers deal with the higher costs of import taxes by passing some of these costs on to consumers through higher prices.
CONSUMER CONFIDENCE DROPS SHARP AS AMERICANS WORRY ABOUT ECONOMY
Voters have been skeptical of the Trump administration’s economic policies, with a Fox News poll found last month that 76% of respondents rated national economic conditions as “not so good” or “poor” in their views.
They also indicated negative opinions about theirs personal financial situationswith 60% rating them as not good or bad, while 40% said they were in good or excellent financial shape.
A majority of 61% of voters said they disapprove of how Trump is handling the economy, while 38% expressed approval. While 77 percent of Republicans said they approved of the president’s handling of the economy, only 25 percent of independents and 6 percent of Democrats expressed approval.
Americans remain concerned about price hikes, with increases in food and energy prices notable. (Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images)
More than half of respondents, 52 percent, said prices are “not at all” under control, with only 18 percent of voters saying inflation is completely or mostly under control, and 29 percent saying it is somewhat under control.
Grocery costs were a particular pain point, with 85% saying they have increased in the past year.
Other areas of family budgets Utility bills and health care costs, as well as housing costs, caused financial strain with higher prices than last year, with at least two-thirds of respondents reporting higher costs in these categories.
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Gas prices are an area where voters who responded to the survey reported the most relief, with only 54 percent reporting price increases and 30 percent saying their gas costs have decreased in the past year.
