The Trump administration’s attempts to calm persistent affordability concerns have encountered a “stiff opponent: the U.S. economy,” according to a report published by The Washington Post. President Donald Trump, who ran for a second term pledging to lower costs on “Day One,” is still struggling with consumer costs that remain stubbornly high.
The report highlights some of these elevated costs are attributed to the administration’s worldwide tariffs. Facing voter jitters, President Trump has attempted to swat away cost-of-living issues by declaring them a “hoax” on par with political persecution. Simultaneously, Republican allies have been urging patience for the administration’s massive new tax law and other economic efforts.
Quoting The Washington Post, the president now faces the same challenge that once depressed President Joe Biden’s approval ratings: “Voters say they don’t like the economy, even if conventional metrics show it’s still performing fairly well.” This reality has led some GOP allies to privately worry about a potential backlash, noting that high costs remain a prime concern despite the president and Republicans in Congress making good on key promises.
The recently passed legislation includes several of Trump’s campaign promises, such as ending taxes on tips and overtime wages, along with a larger standard deduction for seniors. However, the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome H. Powell, has pointed a finger at a different administration policy. The Post noted that Powell said Trump’s tariffs—which represent the highest tariff rate since 1935—were responsible for “causing the most of the inflation overshoot.”
The administration, however, maintains that it is focused on relief. Spokesperson Desai stated, quoting the Washington Post’s reporting, that “Joe Biden presided over a generational inflation and affordability crisis that was entirely of his own making,” adding that President Trump has been focused on “turning the page on the Biden economic disaster since Day One.”
Vice President J.D. Vance echoed this defense at a recent rally, arguing that “every single affordability crisis that we talk about in the United States of America today, it’s because we inherited a nightmare of an economy from Joe Biden.” Vance acknowledged that while the job market posted gains in November, they were not enough to offset losses in October, pushing the unemployment rate to 4.6 percent, the highest since November 2021. He urged patience, stating that voters need time to feel the impact of economic relief. “They all take time to really make a huge difference in people’s lives,” said Jenny Beth Martin, the co-founder of Tea Party Patriots, while Vance concluded by telling the crowd, “The American people are smart… They know Rome wasn’t built in a day.”
Source: The Washington Post
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