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

President Donald Trump told a campaign-style rally that consumer prices were falling “tremendously” as he sought to allay voters' concerns about the cost of living in the United States.

Speaking at a casino in the embattled state of Pennsylvania, the president told supporters he has “no higher priority than making America affordable again.”

But while gasoline and egg prices have fallen, other food items have become more expensive, and Americans remain dissatisfied with the cost of housing, child care and health care.

Democrats have taken advantage of Trump's vulnerability to the economy in recent state and city elections, leaving many Republicans feeling uneasy about next year's midterm elections.

Tuesday's event in a swing county in Pennsylvania was the first of what the White House says will be a series of campaign-style rallies aimed at getting its economic message across to voters.

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

In recent weeks, his administration has eliminated tariffs on dozens of food products and touted Trump-branded rollbacks of fuel efficiency standards and children's retirement accounts as a means to improve the cost of living.

In an excerpt from an interview with Politico published Tuesday, Trump was asked where he would rate the economy.

“See you more-more-more-more,” he said.

In a sign that the policy turnaround may be unraveling, Trump's approval rating rose three points to 41% in a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.

However, many Americans remain pessimistic about the economy.

Alaina Hunt, 37, told the BBC she lost her job as a designer for a construction company in Oklahoma City in April, partly because of Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminum.

The construction sector “really took a hit very early on,” she said. Ms Hunt says she has applied for at least 75 jobs without success.

She says rising grocery bills (about $25 a week) are making the situation worse.

“I used to have a much easier time surviving,” said Ms. Hunt, who voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in 2024. “I don’t think the federal government is listening to me 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 all-time highs. Forecasters expect the economy to grow 1.9% this year, slower than last year's 2.8% but still better than expected.

Some recent data also suggests the labor market may be recovering from a significant slowdown in hiring earlier this year.

As of September, inflation was 3%, the same level as in January when the president took office and stubbornly above the Federal Reserve's 2% target.

That's still well below the peak of 9.1% under former President Joe Biden, when the U.S. faced its worst inflation in four decades.

Overall, prices have risen 25% over the past five years, causing widespread disappointment despite rising wages over the period.

Beth Richardson, a 45-year-old woman from Kansas, said she was confused by some of the prices at a grocery store near her, recalling a recent pack of Mentos gum that cost nearly $5 with tax.

“I think I’m just going to die now because this can’t happen,” she said.

Ms Richardson was made redundant from her job in sales support at a technology company at the end of 2023 after the firm moved work overseas. Last year she voted for Kamala Harris.

She said that while she knew that presidents are often blamed for economic forces over which they have little control, in this case she felt Trump and his policies such as tariffs were “shooting themselves in the foot.”

On Tuesday night, Trump called tariffs his “favorite word,” pointing to hundreds of billions of dollars in U.S. revenue from import taxes.

The White House blames Biden and the Fed's interest rates for the lingering economic problems.

The US central bank has cut rates to around 3.9% twice and could cut them again on Wednesday.

Many Trump supporters said they still support the president despite feeling slighted themselves.

John Moring, 60, a widower and construction worker from Kenosha, Wisconsin, has supported Trump since 2016.

He said food prices started rising even before Trump returned to the White House, “and they don't look like they're going to come down.”

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

Still, Mr. Moring said he supported the Trump administration's high tariffs on imported goods and its border policies.

“I give him the benefit of the doubt,” Mr Moring added.

Brad Smith, a corn and soybean farmer in northwestern Illinois, was hurt earlier this year when China, once a major buyer of U.S. soybeans, froze its purchases amid a trade war with Washington.

But the market, he said, has gradually recovered since late October, when the two countries reached an agreement and China resumed some purchases.

Trump on Monday also announced a $12 billion aid package for American farmers.

Mr. Smith said he still had faith in Mr. Trump's plans for the economy despite being caught in the crossfire.

“There are probably more important things than the soybean and corn markets,” Mr. Smith said.

“The whole idea of ​​‘America First’ is a good one.”