The Week: Trump’s Affordability Address

• Ms. Wiles, you have our phone number, right?

• President Donald Trump is never one to settle for mere overstatement when he can reach for outlandish exaggeration instead. This quality was on full display in his most recent address from the White House, in which he sometimes sounded like an excitable caller on C-SPAN’s Republican line. Trump argued that the nation was on the verge of a collapse during the Biden administration and now, under his stewardship, is experiencing successes like “no one has ever seen.” Clearly, though, the occasion for the address was the public discontent over the economy, which has dragged down the president’s poll numbers and threatens to sweep in a Democratic congressional majority next year. The basic problem for Trump is threefold. First, the price increases under Biden mean that goods are still more expensive than they used to be, even if the inflation rate is lower than the Biden-era peak. It is true that rising wages—and tax cuts—can put more money in people’s wallets and counteract the effect of the higher prices, but this will take time. Second, the Trump tariffs are making goods more expensive while their chaotic rollout has created great uncertainty for businesses. Third, Trump has refused to acknowledge that prices are still going up. If nothing else, Trump’s speech shows that the White House realizes the political challenge it faces on the economy. Ultimately, it is economic conditions that will determine how the issue plays out, regardless of the president’s exceedingly harsh or boundlessly self-glorifying words.

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• Ms. Wiles, you have our phone number, right?

• President Donald Trump is never one to settle for mere overstatement when he can reach for outlandish exaggeration instead. This quality was on full display in his most recent address from the White House, in which he sometimes sounded like an excitable caller on C-SPAN’s Republican line. Trump argued that the nation was on the verge of a collapse during the Biden administration and now, under his stewardship, is experiencing successes like “no one has ever seen.” Clearly, though, the occasion for the address was the public discontent over the economy, which has dragged down the president’s poll numbers and threatens to sweep in a Democratic congressional majority next year. The basic problem for Trump is threefold. First, the price increases under Biden mean that goods are still more expensive than they used to be, even if the inflation rate is lower than the Biden-era peak. It is true that rising wages—and tax cuts—can put more money in people’s wallets and counteract the effect of the higher prices, but this will take time. Second, the Trump tariffs are making goods more expensive while their chaotic rollout has created great uncertainty for businesses. Third, Trump has refused to acknowledge that prices are still going up. If nothing else, Trump’s speech shows that the White House realizes the political challenge it faces on the economy. Ultimately, it is economic conditions that will determine how the issue plays out, regardless of the president’s exceedingly harsh or boundlessly self-glorifying words.