President Donald Trump touts gains on economy, even as polls show Americans are on edge

WASHINGTON — At a White House roundtable with farmers, an open talk with tech titans and a rally in Pennsylvania, President Donald Trump this week has ramped up his efforts to sell his economic agenda as polls and consumer confidence data show growing anxiety among Americans.

Trump, reelected in large part on a promise to reduce prices on "Day One," is now facing polls that show widespread dissatisfaction with his handling of the economy nearly a year into his second term, as Democrats have notched wins in several key races this year by focusing on a message of affordability.

The president, who at first appeared to embrace the term, describing himself in a social media post last month as "the affordability president," has since repeatedly knocked it. He called affordability a "hoax that was started by Democrats," as New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and the Democratic governors-elect of New Jersey and Virginia made the issue a cornerstone of their winning campaigns.

While Democrats continue to lean into the term, the White House has been fine-tuning Trump’s messaging as national polls show the majority of Americans hold an unfavorable opinion of his handling of the economy. An average of 56% of Americans said they disapprove of Trump’s shepherding of the economy, according a RealClearPolitics analysis of national polls conducted over the past month.

"I have no higher priority than making America affordable again," Trump told a crowd gathered Tuesday for a campaign-style rally in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania.

The event was billed by the White House as the first in a series of stops aimed at drawing attention to the president’s economic agenda. But the more than 90-minute speech frequently veered from the economic talking points of his tariff, trade and energy policies to blistering attacks on his political enemies including Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), a Somali American lawmaker who he said "should get the hell out" of the country, and immigrant groups he described as hailing from places that are "filthy, dirty, disgusting, ridden with crime."

Voter concerns

Trump’s tendency to speak off-the-cuff undercuts his ability to hammer a consistent message on the economy that could alleviate some voter concerns about rising prices, said Dan Schnur, a political communications professor at the University of Southern California, who served as communications director for Republican John McCain’s 2000 presidential campaign.

"He’s delivering his economic message with such inconsistency," Schnur told Newsday in a phone interview. "Some days he talks about the progress that's being made, and his commitment to bringing down prices. Other days he’s focused on political attacks and other messages that have nothing to do with the economy. There's no way to predict whether he'd be more successful with his message if he delivered it more consistently."

White House spokesman Kush Desai, in a statement to Newsday, defended the president’s comments on Omar and immigrants when asked if they were distracting from his economic messaging, saying "unchecked migration is an economic issue."

"The Trump administration is leaving no stone unturned to restore the prosperity that working-class Americans experienced during the first Trump term, and that includes restoring sanity to our immigration policies," Desai said.

Trump, at roundtables held at the White House Monday with farmers and Wednesday with tech industry executives, argued that his economic policies are spurring a "boom," where prices are down and wages are up. But economic data shows inflation at 3% as of September, roughly the same as when former President Joe Biden was in office last fall, and wages have gone up nominally by 0.8% from last September to this September, according to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data on hourly wages.

Democrats' attacks

Democrats meanwhile are seizing on the affordability message, arguing that Trump’s policies are out of touch.

"Donald Trump is in his bubble, and he kept making fun of the word affordability," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a floor speech Wednesday. "People are struggling, they can’t afford basic needs, and Donald Trump keeps making fun of it by calling it all a giant hoax. But Americans know affordability is not a hoax — they see it as very real every time they go to the grocery store, pay their bills, and pay the rent."

Michael Dawidziak, a Republican campaign strategist from Bayport who worked as an aide to former President George H.W. Bush, said Trump has long been "more of a broad stroke communicator" than a "get into the weeds" policy wonk, so while he may not go into great detail about his policy plans, he should offer a message that acknowledges the economic stresses some American households are feeling.

"Trump does risk people saying, ‘you know, you're not facing reality,’" Dawidziak said. "But that’s his style, that’s his way of communicating, to go out there and say, ‘things are wonderful, things are great.’" 

By Laura Figueroa Hernandez

laura.figueroa@newsday.com@Laura_Figueroa

Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.