President Donald Trump addresses the nation on the shooting of two National Guard soldiers in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, November 26, 2025, from his residence in Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)
As Congressional Republicans struggle to "craft a message" on affordability, President Donald Trump is offering no help to them, according to Bloomberg Government's Mica Soellner.
"More than a dozen House and Senate Republicans interviewed by Bloomberg Government said there’s been minimal guidance from the administration on discussing the issue of affordability, which President Donald Trump has referred to as a 'hoax' this week," Soellner writes.
The White House has had its own issues coming up with "an effective message on the cost of living and the economy, as Trump grapples with falling approval numbers driven by pocketbook issues," Soellner adds.
Republicans have followed the White House’s lead, Soellner explains, but they are having trouble finding "abetter way to reassure voters they are taking economic anxieties seriously."
Rep. James Comer (R-KY) tells Bloomberg that Trump has his work cut out for him.
“It’s going to take the president probably another full year to get inflation under control,” he says.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) has told the public to "relax," saying Republicans' "best days are ahead of us," but many are dubious of his claims.
Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) told Bloomberg Government he spoke about affordability with Trump directly by phone last week, and says Trump said he was “frustrated” by the slow pace of declining costs, but also “hopeful” about the next few months.
"There's a lot of inflation," Van Drew says.
Democrats, meanwhile, have seized upon the Republicans' struggle with affordability, using Trump's own dismissal of peoples' struggles to their advantage.
"It’s preposterous that he’s calling this a hoax,” Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-MI), who represents a swing district, tells Soellner. “It’s the first, second, third, fourth and fifth issue in my district. American people are really struggling, and we need to take that seriously.”
Rep. Jennifer McClellan (D-VA) says high costs are the top issue in her district too.
“People who never felt financial insecurity before are feeling it now,” McClellan says. “For people who have felt it most of their lives, it’s getting worse.”
As a pre-Thanksgiving Fox News poll found that a staggering 76 percent of voters view the economy negatively, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) says the American Dream “has been broken” for many people, criticizing Trump for his rhetoric.
“It’s unconstructive for him to conclude that it’s a scam and Democratic hoax,” Jeffries says. “The American people know it’s not a scam. It’s not a hoax. It’s very real.”
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