U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on the U.S. economy and affordability at the Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, U.S. December 9, 2025. REUTERS Jonathan Ernst
MS NOW reporter Ashley Parker says the people around President Donald Trump are desperate to convince him of the problems flaming around him, but the Trump is either unable or unwilling to focus.
“Some people around the president, particularly on his political team, understand that this is a five-alarm fire, but they have not been able to get him to focus or to message it the way that they would like him to,” Parker told MS NOW anchor Katy Tur and an MS NOW panel.
She added that even with positive economic indicators, it’s difficult for a president to navigate how people feel about the economy. Former President Biden, for example, could point to an economy going in the right direction, but people's checking accounts didn’t have a $1,000 cushion at the end of the month.
“This is bad for any president of any party, but it is in some ways doubly bad for Donald trump, who sold himself … as a savvy billionaire businessman,” Parker said. “Now, it's worth noting that a lot of that was based off of a fake reality TV show known as The Apprentice, but he did come into people's living rooms and homes for years that way. That's what they believed from him. So not only are they feeling it in a way that hurts any politician, but this was the reason they were willing to overlook his bad behavior, the character flaws, the things he said that they didn't love, other policies they might not have fully been on board with was for the economy. And now they're not even getting that.”
“Good Luck America” podcaster Peter Hamby warned that “Trump has lost trust on the economy, in particular the young voters … despite the fact that many of them voted for him.”
“And it just hasn't recovered,” Hamby added. “And it's remarkable that a Republican president is doing this to himself. In past elections, Republicans always have a built in advantage on the economy. Even in 2020, during covid, when the economy was bad, Biden and Trump fought to parity in exit polls on the question of who do better on the economy. Now trump is underwater across the board on inflation, on prices, on trade.”
“For a Republican president to suffer those numbers and do it to himself is pretty remarkable politically,” Hamby concluded.