Why is Trump mocking affordability?
It's why voters selected him
By: Dace Potas
USA Today
..... As much as President Donald Trump wants to insist otherwise, the struggling economy is a vulnerability for him and Republicans leading into the 2026 midterm elections. A new high 67% of Americans disapprove of Trump's handling of the economy, according to a new AP-NORC poll.
.....
Trump was elected largely because of the economic woes of the Biden administration and the promise of a return to the boom that was the first Trump term before COVID-19. Instead, America has received tariff insanity and more economic struggles as a result.
..... Trump's messaging on the economy has been bad, and poses a real opportunity for Democratic politicians to exploit heading into the midterms.
..... Trump's messaging approach on the economy has been disastrous. He has at times proclaimed the economy is great and, at others, blamed the struggles on former President Joe Biden. These are inherently conflicting messages and a far cry from his campaign promise of a full recovery if voters simply gave him back the power to fix it.
..... Trump has even opted to call the struggles a "hoax."
..... On the contrary, Trump's actions have actively hurt the economy. The sweeping tariff regime that he promised wouldn't raise prices has, in fact, raised prices. The instability of rapidly fluctuating rates has resulted in a lack of confidence in the underlying policies.
..... Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve has seemingly abandon its mission to bring inflation down to 2% anytime soon, under pressure from Trump to cut interest rates. Lowering interest rates reduces the cost of borrowing money, which increase spending and investment. When this increase in demand exceeds the supply of goods or services, it can worsen inflation.
..... However, as for the political equation, whether for rising prices doesn't actually matter. Voters feel the effects of rising prices on their wallets, and can look to trump's tariffs as the key policy that has changed.
..... Had Trump done nothing, he might have been able to get away with blaming whatever economic struggles remained on Biden, but the massive undertaking of raising America's average tariff are to the highest in more than a century inevitably puts your policy under heightened scrutiny.
..... Despite Biden's poor record on the economy, inflation was slowing at the back end of his term and price growth was poised to continue slowing until Trump's tariffs interfered.
..... Even if Trump doesn't want to admit it publicly, he knows it himself, which is why he is cutting tariffs in an effort to bring some relief to Americans.
..... Meanwhile, voters need only look at the weekly headlines to see Trump being distracted from the issue of affordability. Whether it be escalating military tensions with Venezuela or new White House renovations, voters see a president out of touch with the issues that actually matter to them.
..... Success in the economy is a license to pursue other matters for the president. If you can't manage that issue to satisfaction, your other successes will largely be forgotten. In the case of Trump, his other actions appear only as distractions.
..... Democrats have obviously shifted to hammer away to this message, and appear to be gearing up to make affordability their key issues heading into next year's [2026] midterm elections. If they are smart, the vast majority of their messaging will be on this point.
.....
Trump can insist that the economy is great or that it's bad because of Biden, but whichever message he chooses won't mattering the end. Voters will blame Trump if their basic expenses continue to be unfordable.
..... The trouble with Trump is that he floods the zone with objectionable material. His opponents are unable to latch on to one crisis at time, some the effect of their criticisms became diluted. Democrats would be wise not to swing at outside pitches and stick to their message - the economy.
..... Sure, voters will remember the Biden era's economic woes, but Democrats have a couple of advantage this time around. First off, Biden is gone. Democrats should have no problem throwing the former president under the bus to advance their won campaigns in the midterms.
..... Second, and most importantly, trump has run out of his leash. As much as his second term contains plenty of unpopular actions, many of these tangents could be forgiven by voters if the economy were as good as it was under the first trump term.
.... Trump's first term, was full of plenty of nonsense, albeit not as constitutionally concerning as many of his second-term offenses. However, voters were able to look pass that for the most part for one simple reason. Until the COVID-19 pandemic tanked the economy, the stock market was strong, the job market exceeded expectations and inflation was low.
..... American
voters have a short memory, and they are done with nostaliga. Trump is well beyond the point of grace with voters. A wining strategy for Democrats will be to recognize that and hammer away a that chief vulnerability rather than get overly distracted by other objectionable past of Trump's second term.
..... Dace Potas is an opinion columnist for USA Today and a graduate of DePaul University with a degree in political science.