President Donald Trump has repeatedly dismissed concerns about the cost-of-living as a "hoax" designed to smear his leadership, and according to a new report from The Hill, Republicans in the Senate are increasingly frustrated with this approach to what voters have singled out as a major issue.
Multiple GOP senators spoke to the outlet about the president's recent messaging tactics. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a moderate from Alaska whose seat could be vulnerable in the 2026 midterms, said that Trump should not be telling voters what to believe. She also suggested that voters know the truth of the matter from their everyday experiences and struggles, which are things that Trump does not understand.
“You can’t call it a hoax and suggest that people are going to believe it,” Murkowski told The Hill. “What you say matters."
“By the time somebody is at the level that they’re serving as president of the United States, it’s not like they’re going out and doing their own shopping,” she continued. “Trump is not sitting down on a Thursday night and paying his own bills and seeing what’s going on with health care and how much his credit card shows for gas receipts. It is important that his team be really honest with him about what people are talking about around the dinner table."
Another "senior Republican senator" weighed in on the matter anonymously, suggesting that Trump's approach makes it look like Republicans do not care about voters' problems.
“I think Republicans need to have a message about caring for people who are struggling because of the high cost of things. I see it at home," the senator said. "The cost of things is a problem"
The same anonymous lawmaker also agreed that Trump's overt focus on his expensive new White House ballroom is a "political problem" for the GOP, as it contrasts with the financial hardships voters are enduring.
“Is it a political problem? Sure, it’s a political problem because it’s a problem for people,” the senator said. “The cost of living just makes life very difficult on people.”
On Tuesday, Trump took to Pennsylvania, a key swing state he won in 2024, to give a speech assuring the public about his economic agenda and his approach to affordability. During the address, Trump repeated his erroneous claims that “prices are coming down tremendously” and that “inflation is stopped.” According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, inflation had actually reached a rate of 3% by the end of September, higher than the target rate of 2 percent.
“The president rightfully points to the policies of Biden as the hole that we’re digging ourselves out of, but while we’re still in a hole. We’re in a hole,” Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, told The Hill. “I’m pretty sure if I go back to that trailer park I grew up in, if I did a town hall, they’re not doing fine."