Trump touts upbeat message on cost of living as Americans feel the pinch

President Donald Trump has told a campaign-style rally that consumer prices are falling “tremendously” as he sought to allay voter anxiety about the US cost of living.

In a speech at a casino in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, the president told supporters he had “no higher priority than making America affordable again”.

But while gas and egg prices have fallen, other food is more expensive and Americans remain unhappy about the cost of housing, childcare and healthcare.

Democrats have capitalised on Trump’s political vulnerability on the economy in recent off-cycle votes, leaving many Republicans uneasy about next year’s midterms elections.

Tuesday’s event in a swing district of Pennsylvania was the first of what the White House says will be a series of campaign-like rallies aimed at bringing its economic message to voters.

But at one point in his remarks, the Republican president again portrayed concerns about affordability as a Democratic “hoax”.

In recent weeks, his administration has removed tariffs from dozens of food products and touted its rollback of fuel efficiency standards and Trump-branded retirement accounts for children as cost-of-living fixes.

In an excerpt from an interview with Politico released on Tuesday, Trump was asked what grade he would give the economy.

“A plus-plus-plus-plus-plus,” he said.

In a sign the policy pivot might be cutting through, Trump’s approval rating rose three points to 41% in a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.

But many Americans remain downbeat on the economy.

Alaina Hunt, 37, who lost her job as a designer at a construction company in Oklahoma City, told the BBC her position was in part a casualty of Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminium.

The construction sector “really took a hard hit very early on”, she said. Ms Hunt says she has applied for at least 75 jobs in web design and development since April, to no avail, amid a broader slowdown in hiring.

She says rising grocery bills – about $25 extra per week – have added to the strain.

“I was able to scrape by a lot easier in years before,” said Ms Hunt, who voted for Kamala Harris. “I don’t think that the federal government is listening at all.”

Economic data paints a mixed picture.

US consumer confidence fell in November to its lowest level since the spring.

But the stock market continues to hover near record highs. And forecasters expect the economy to expand by 1.9% this year, slower than last year’s 2.8% but still better than expected.

Some recent data also indicate the job market may be picking up, after a significant hiring slowdown earlier this year.

As of September, inflation stood at 3%, the same rate as in January when the president took office and stubbornly above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.

It is still way below a peak of 9.1% under former President Joe Biden when the US faced its worst inflation in four decades.

Overall prices have surged 25% over the last five years, generating widespread frustration, despite wage growth over that period.

Beth Richardson, a 45-year-old from Kansas, said she had been floored by some of the prices at the grocery store near her, recalling a pack of Mentos gum she picked up recently that rang up to almost $5 with tax.

“I’m like, I’m just going to go die now because this cannot be,” she said.

Ms Richardson was laid off from her job in sales support at a tech-related company in late 2023, after the firm shifted jobs overseas. She voted for Kamala Harris last year.

She said while she knew presidents were often blamed for economic forces over which they had little control, she felt in this case Trump and his policies, like tariffs, were “shooting ourselves in the foot”.

On Tuesday night, Trump called tariffs his “favourite word”, pointing to hundreds of billions of dollars of US revenue from import taxes.

The White House blames Biden and the Fed, arguing high interest rates are hurting the economy.

The US central bank has twice reduced rates to about 3.9% and may cut them again on Wednesday.

Many Trump supporters have said they still back the president, despite feeling the pinch themselves.

John Mohring, 60, of Kenosha, Wisconsin, has backed Trump since 2016, though rising prices worry him.

Mr Mohring, who works in construction and has lived alone since his wife died three years ago, said grocery prices started rising before Trump returned to the White House “and it doesn’t seem like it’s going down”.

He now typically spends $100 on groceries just for himself, even when avoiding buying meat and sticking with cheaper items.

Still, Mr Mohring said he backed the Trump administration’s sweeping tariffs on imported goods and his border policies.

“I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt,” Mr Mohring added.

Brad Smith, a corn and soybean farmer in north-western Illinois, was hurt earlier this year when China, previously a major buyer of US soybeans, froze its purchases amid a trade war with Washington.

But the market, he said, had been gradually recovering since late October, when the two countries reached a trade agreement and China resumed some purchases.

Trump on Monday also announced a $12bn aid package for US farmers.

Mr Smith said he still believed in Trump’s plans for the economy, despite being getting caught in the crossfire.

“There’s probably bigger things at play other than just the soybean and corn market,” Mr Smith said.

“The whole America First idea is good.”