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speak easy

(12,593 posts)
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 08:48 AM Dec 3

Trump Calls Affordability a 'Con Job' as His Edge on the Economy Slips

Source: New York Times

President Trump is growing frustrated as Americans struggle with higher prices and pessimism over the state of the economy.

President Trump on Tuesday downplayed the cost-of-living pains being felt by Americans, declaring that affordability “doesn’t mean anything to anybody” as his political edge on the economy continues to dissipate.

In remarks during a cabinet meeting, Mr. Trump railed against Democrats who have championed the issue, which helped the party secure several off-year election victories last month and is likely to be a defining topic in the midterms next year.

After ticking off what he claimed were trillions of dollars of investments and other economic accomplishments, Mr. Trump called the issue of affordability a “fake narrative” and “con job” created by Democrats to dupe the public.

“They just say the word,” he said. “It doesn’t mean anything to anybody. They just say it — affordability. I inherited the worst inflation in history. There was no affordability. Nobody could afford anything.”

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/us/politics/trump-affordability-economy-messaging.html



Affordability "doesn’t mean anything to anybody." Keep saying it Donald, loud and clear, as often as possible.
56 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Trump Calls Affordability a 'Con Job' as His Edge on the Economy Slips (Original Post) speak easy Dec 3 OP
I'm looking forward to a trip to the grocery store this BOSSHOG Dec 3 #1
MAGATs will be making scenes at grocery store check-outs hadEnuf Dec 3 #2
Who are you going to believe? Your lying eyes or me? Jacson6 Dec 3 #3
He had an "edge" on the economy??? joshdawg Dec 3 #4
Gotta love that corporate media! robbob Dec 3 #37
It was so legitimate that he was going to lower prices on day one. Norrrm Dec 3 #5
Inherited The Worst Inflation In History?!?! GB_RN Dec 3 #6
He inherited an inflation rate of 3.0% in January 2025. subterranean Dec 3 #10
Heating oil was 17 cents a gallon in the fall of 73. By March of 74 it was more than a dollar. twodogsbarking Dec 3 #11
Annual Inflation by Year since 1929 Wiz Imp Dec 3 #15
Source belpejic Dec 3 #53
It's from the CPI From BLS but I found it preformatted like this Wiz Imp Dec 3 #54
Thank you! belpejic Dec 7 #56
Many of us on DU remember the 1970s stagflation. yardwork Dec 3 #28
I Was A Kid At The Time... GB_RN Dec 3 #44
Yes. Our first car had an 18% interest rate. yardwork Dec 3 #47
Here's what has gone up for me this year, and at higher rates than inflation: NCDem47 Dec 3 #7
Insurance and local taxes are through the roof. yardwork Dec 3 #29
If Trump says good morning it is probably midnight. twodogsbarking Dec 3 #8
Contradicts himself in the same breath... sop Dec 3 #9
That POS spews daily how "energy prices have gone down" Really Trump? We have Evergy in Kansas Bengus81 Dec 3 #12
That's why I moved back to Tucson this Spring. ChazInAz Dec 3 #30
Good move. All Evergy cares about is larger dividend payments (.69 per share now) and keeping Bengus81 Dec 3 #32
Evergy victim here, too! slightlv Dec 3 #35
yup, that's the thing these days Skittles Dec 3 #49
Trump says, "Everyone who gives me millions of dollars says the economy is great". twodogsbarking Dec 3 #13
MAGA Mango Mussolini is a walking pile of fake narrative words gohuskies Dec 3 #14
The Make-Believe World of Trump 2na fisherman Dec 3 #17
gah AllaN01Bear Dec 3 #16
He has never a day in his life had to go without a meal, worry about keeping a roof or paying for essentials, kimbutgar Dec 3 #18
yes Skittles Dec 3 #50
That's because he knows if he says it's a con his rubes will believe him ChicagoTeamster Dec 3 #19
Trump is irritated that people are asking for his help Prairie Gates Dec 3 #20
Suck it up you losers. Stop whining IronLionZion Dec 3 #21
Hey shit for brains who is paying for your breakfast in the white house.........well the taxpayers are....while we have turbinetree Dec 3 #22
Tell that to the $2 grapefruit in the produce department. Not a bag of grapefruit. One grapefruit. Vinca Dec 3 #23
Dude doesn't set foot in a grocery store or eat much produce IronLionZion Dec 3 #25
"but maybe McDonalds prices" speak easy Dec 3 #31
Yup, he even spoke at the McDonalds conference on Nov 18 IronLionZion Dec 3 #41
I have other ideas speak easy Dec 3 #42
WE All Know (Even Some Maggots!) That "It Doesn't Mean Anything to Anybody" is Trump's Desperate The Roux Comes First Dec 3 #24
Orange outside although full of shit inside. Conundrums abound. oasis Dec 3 #26
His affluent followers won't care about what he says, but... yardwork Dec 3 #27
Con-man from hell says what? Nt BootinUp Dec 3 #33
I guess a Con Man would know a Con Job when he sees one. maxsolomon Dec 3 #34
Of course, its all Biden's fault Bayard Dec 3 #36
What "political edge"? When did this guy have a "political edge" on the economy? Escurumbele Dec 3 #38
He had a slight edge last year just because he wasn't the incumbent. subterranean Dec 3 #40
Spoken by a person who was given and is now stealing all the money he has ever "had". efhmc Dec 3 #39
No, no, no. It is a "Don Job". It is true but not favorable. twodogsbarking Dec 3 #43
This message was self-deleted by its author bmichaelh Dec 3 #45
Hey, Pedonald, MarineCombatEngineer Dec 3 #46
Didn't just a day or two ago . . . Scubamatt Dec 3 #48
Inflation Was 2.9% In 2024 ProfessorGAC Dec 3 #51
That's nice maybe now trumpers will hear him Figarosmom Dec 3 #52
In 2024, Trump campaigned on affordability. Said he was going to lower prices on day one. Norrrm Dec 3 #55

BOSSHOG

(44,603 posts)
1. I'm looking forward to a trip to the grocery store this
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 08:57 AM
Dec 3

Morning to be conned as I shop for the local food pantry.

hadEnuf

(3,511 posts)
2. MAGATs will be making scenes at grocery store check-outs
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 09:15 AM
Dec 3

demanding that they be charged more because affordability is a hoax.

joshdawg

(2,919 posts)
4. He had an "edge" on the economy???
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 09:37 AM
Dec 3

If you call destroying the economy faster than any President, living or dead, then yeah, he has an "edge."
For the good of the country, he needs to disappear, I care not how.

robbob

(3,739 posts)
37. Gotta love that corporate media!
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 01:15 PM
Dec 3

Spinning things faster then that guy with the plates on Ed Sullivan…🙄

Norrrm

(3,872 posts)
5. It was so legitimate that he was going to lower prices on day one.
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 09:38 AM
Dec 3

Is there a list of the prices lowered on day one?

GB_RN

(3,501 posts)
6. Inherited The Worst Inflation In History?!?!
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 09:46 AM
Dec 3

Umm. No.

The worst single year for U.S. inflation was 1917, with a year-over-year peak of 17.8%, driven by World War I spending. However, the most painful and prolonged period of high inflation was the "Great Inflation" from 1973–1982, marked by high inflation rates and a series of oil shocks. Another significant period of high inflation occurred in the years immediately following World War I, culminating in a peak of 23.7% in June 1920. *


As usual, Cantaloupe Caligula the Corpulent shows how ignorant he is, or, is flat out lying his corpulent ass off. And I won’t discount the possibility of it being both.

*Quoted from a summary of information from Barrow Insurance Group and Yahoo Finance.

twodogsbarking

(17,481 posts)
11. Heating oil was 17 cents a gallon in the fall of 73. By March of 74 it was more than a dollar.
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 10:08 AM
Dec 3

Many houses lacked insulation. Thanks for the accurated post.

Wiz Imp

(8,746 posts)
15. Annual Inflation by Year since 1929
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 10:30 AM
Dec 3
Year | Inflation Rate YOY | Business Cycle*
1929 | 0.60% | August peak
1930 | -6.40% | Contraction (-8.5%)
1931 | -9.30% | Contraction (-6.4%)
1932 | -10.30% | Contraction (-12.9%)
1933 | 0.80% | Contraction ended in March (-1.2%)
1934 | 1.50% | Expansion (10.8%)
1935 | 3.00% | Expansion (8.9%)
1936 | 1.40% | Expansion (12.9%)
1937 | 2.90% | Expansion peaked in May (5.1%)
1938 | -2.80% | Contraction ended in June (-3.3%)
1939 | 0.00% | Expansion (8.0%)
1940 | 0.70% | Expansion (8.8%)
1941 | 9.90% | Expansion (17.7%)
1942 | 9.00% | Expansion (18.9%)
1943 | 3.00% | Expansion (17.0%)
1944 | 2.30% | Expansion (7.9%)
1945 | 2.20% | February peak, October trough (-1.0%)
1946 | 18.10% | Contraction (-11.6%)
1947 | 8.80% | Contraction (-1.1%)
1948 | 3.00% | November peak (4.1%)
1949 | -2.10% | October trough (-0.6%)
1950 | 5.90% | Expansion (8.7%)
1951 | 6.00% | Expansion (8.0%)
1952 | 0.80% | Expansion (4.1%)
1953 | 0.70% | July peak (4.7%)
1954 | -0.70% | May trough (-0.6%)
1955 | 0.40% | Expansion (7.1%)
1956 | 3.00% | Expansion (2.1%)
1957 | 2.90% | August peak (2.1%)
1958 | 1.80% | April trough (-0.7%)
1959 | 1.70% | Expansion (6.9%)
1960 | 1.40% | April peak (2.6%)
1961 | 0.70% | February trough (2.6%)
1962 | 1.30% | Expansion (6.1%)
1963 | 1.60% | Expansion (4.4%)
1964 | 1.00% | Expansion (5.8%)
1965 | 1.90% | Expansion (6.5%)
1966 | 3.50% | Expansion (6.6%)
1967 | 3.00% | Expansion (2.7%)
1968 | 4.70% | Expansion (4.9%)
1969 | 6.20% | December peak (3.1%)
1970 | 5.60% | November trough (0.2%)
1971 | 3.30% | Expansion (3.3%)
1972 | 3.40% | Expansion (5.3%)
1973 | 8.70% | November peak (5.6%)
1974 | 12.30% | Contraction (-0.5%)
1975 | 6.90% | March trough (-0.2%)
1976 | 4.90% | Expansion (5.4%)
1977 | 6.70% | Expansion (4.6%)
1978 | 9.00% | Expansion (5.5%)
1979 | 13.3% | Expansion (3.2%)
1980 | 12.50% | January peak (-0.3%)
1981 | 8.90% | July trough (2.5%)
1982 | 3.80% | Contraction (-1.8%)
1983 | 3.80% | Expansion (4.6%)
1984 | 3.90% | Expansion (7.2%)
1985 | 3.80% | Expansion (4.2%)
1986 | 1.10% | Expansion (3.5%)
1987 | 4.40% | Expansion (3.5%)
1988 | 4.40% | Expansion (4.2%)
1989 | 4.60% | Expansion (3.7%)
1990 | 6.10% | July peak (1.9%)
1991 | 3.10% | March trough (-0.1%)
1992 | 2.90% | Expansion (3.5%)
1993 | 2.70% | Expansion (2.7%)
1994 | 2.70% | Expansion (4.0%)
1995 | 2.50% | Expansion (2.7%)
1996 | 3.30% | Expansion (3.8%)
1997 | 1.70% | Expansion (4.4%)
1998 | 1.60% | Expansion (4.5%)
1999 | 2.70% | Expansion (4.8%)
2000 | 3.40% | Expansion (4.1%)
2001 | 1.60% | March peak, November trough (1.0%)
2002 | 2.40% | Expansion (1.7%)
2003 | 1.90% | Expansion (2.8%)
2004 | 3.30% | Expansion (3.8%)
2005 | 3.40% | Expansion (3.5%)
2006 | 2.50% | Expansion (2.8%)
2007 | 4.10% | December peak (2.0%)
2008 | 0.10% | Expansion (0.1%)
2009 | 2.70% | June trough (-2.6%)
2010 | 1.50% | Expansion (2.7%)
2011 | 3.00% | Expansion (1.6%)
2012 | 1.70% | Expansion (2.3%)
2013 | 1.50% | Expansion (2.1%)
2014 | 0.80% | Expansion (2.5%)
2015 | 0.70% | Expansion (2.9%)
2016 | 2.10% | Expansion (1.8%)
2017 | 2.10% | Expansion (2.5%)
2018 | 1.90% | Expansion (3.0%)
2019 | 2.30% | Expansion (2.5%)
2020 | 1.40% | Contraction (-2.2%)
2021 | 7.00% | Expansion (5.8%)
2022 | 6.50% | Expansion (1.9%)
2023 | 3.40% | Expansion (2.5%)
2024 | 2.90% | Expansion (2.8%)

For the period 1973 thru 1981, the annualized inflation rate was over 8%. That's over 8% for almost an entire decade straight. The highest for a single year under Biden was 7%.


belpejic

(777 posts)
53. Source
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 06:56 PM
Dec 3

That's really interesting information, and thank you for sharing. It's no surprise that Dear Leader lies, bigly. Would mind providing the source for this data?

yardwork

(68,885 posts)
28. Many of us on DU remember the 1970s stagflation.
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 11:22 AM
Dec 3

We also remember the cruelly high interest rates that followed. Those of us buying our first cars and homes in the early-mid 1980s remember that well.

GB_RN

(3,501 posts)
44. I Was A Kid At The Time...
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 03:26 PM
Dec 3

But I remember it from the news back when ABC, CBS and NBC had actual news and reporters, and weren’t just infotainment garbage.

My parents borrowed money from my great grandmother, so they could buy a new car which would accommodate all of us. My parents talked about interest rates being 17-19% or so. Makes me shudder.

NCDem47

(3,315 posts)
7. Here's what has gone up for me this year, and at higher rates than inflation:
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 10:02 AM
Dec 3

Health insurance
Auto Insurance
Home Insurance
Groceries
Utlities
Fees, Fees, Fees (pick your boogeyman--banks, state government, local government)

Income has NOT kept pace.

Sorry Donald, you can't bullshit me.

sop

(17,286 posts)
9. Contradicts himself in the same breath...
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 10:06 AM
Dec 3

Calls affordability a fake narrative and con job created by Democrats to dupe the public, then he says there was no affordability, that nobody could afford anything.

Bengus81

(9,758 posts)
12. That POS spews daily how "energy prices have gone down" Really Trump? We have Evergy in Kansas
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 10:09 AM
Dec 3

and Missouri. They just nailed us with a 9.6% increase starting Oct 1st. It will be a hot fucker in this house next summer with bills that will be more unaffordable than the ones we had then.

ChazInAz

(2,990 posts)
30. That's why I moved back to Tucson this Spring.
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 11:42 AM
Dec 3

I lived in a 140 year old brick church in Atchison that I'd converted into a theater. At over 3000 square feet it was a beast to heat and cool. At the beginning of the year I received notices that all of my utilities and taxes were going up.
The place got sold and I came back home to Tucson. Now I'm in a mobile home retirement community in a suburb where taxes are microscopic and utilities are reasonable.

Bengus81

(9,758 posts)
32. Good move. All Evergy cares about is larger dividend payments (.69 per share now) and keeping
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 12:09 PM
Dec 3

the CEO dragging down $7M per year while the rest of us suffer. I've NEVER seen an increase like this one with any utility and it went down with the blessing of the KCC.

Dividends should be fucking illegal for utility companies.

slightlv

(7,396 posts)
35. Evergy victim here, too!
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 12:57 PM
Dec 3

My opinion, after living nearly 70 years, is that NO utility should be privately owned. They should all be publicly owned, operated, and rates set via the government. Of course, lately, in KS that wouldn't have helped us a whole lot...

This month I've had to pay property taxes, insurance on two (barely running) cars, and several medical bills of my husband's previous trip to the ER and then to EMS to ship him to an actual hospital... since they've closed down the two hospitals we used to have here. My car has no heat, sounds like a teenager took out the baffles, and will just have to make due 'cause no one is going to sell us anything better. SS doesn't go that far... but the private utilities and companies just keep upping their prices. I thought I'd have maybe two months to dig us out of this last hole, but I just brought hubby home from the hospital yesterday, so I'm expecting more medical bills within the next 2 months. It never ends.

twodogsbarking

(17,481 posts)
13. Trump says, "Everyone who gives me millions of dollars says the economy is great".
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 10:10 AM
Dec 3

That I could believe.

gohuskies

(1,221 posts)
14. MAGA Mango Mussolini is a walking pile of fake narrative words
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 10:18 AM
Dec 3

Hoax, Fake News, Antifa etc etc...

2na fisherman

(220 posts)
17. The Make-Believe World of Trump
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 10:41 AM
Dec 3

It's so true what you say about his fake words. He's like the Wizard of Oz. Soon he will be saying, "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain."
And he really said, "Who can figure out the true meaning of covfefe?"

kimbutgar

(26,679 posts)
18. He has never a day in his life had to go without a meal, worry about keeping a roof or paying for essentials,
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 10:50 AM
Dec 3

Not being able to pay for health care or if his car broke down he doesn’t have money to pay for it. He is so out of touch with the majority of Americans.

Skittles

(169,244 posts)
50. yes
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 06:21 PM
Dec 3

and he's literally never been grocery shopping in his entire life - he does not understand how often we shop, and how price-savvy we are

ChicagoTeamster

(378 posts)
19. That's because he knows if he says it's a con his rubes will believe him
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 10:51 AM
Dec 3

Look at how they'll buy his sneakers, bibles, watches, and now phones but no, COVID was a hoax, so is global climate change to them, oh and vaccines are dangerous.

Prairie Gates

(7,131 posts)
20. Trump is irritated that people are asking for his help
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 10:53 AM
Dec 3

He thought being President again would be just about getting revenge on his enemies, blowing up boats and other stuff, and making men in suits cower before you through extortion and blackmail.

He forgot that even the most derelict mafiosi have to take care of the local village.

turbinetree

(26,932 posts)
22. Hey shit for brains who is paying for your breakfast in the white house.........well the taxpayers are....while we have
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 11:06 AM
Dec 3

to buy our own groceries........don't you get that warm treasonous feeling of just plain fucking over people is so much fun in your demented brain..........when it comes to affordability..........in fact you get your health care paid for by taxpayers (when they gave you the cognitive test did they tell you to draw a clock and number it and then put arms the clock to make it 3 pm/am) or did you get someone to do it for you for affordability.....while we have to double dip into our pockets to pay for ours and yours, you do do realize that shit for brains...........in fact you get $400,000 a year to be a immunity laden traitor from your maga senate not once but twice and maga US Supreme Court 6 to go and play golf which has cost the taxpayers $17 million dollars worth of golf..............and then you go on tv and tell everyone that you won the club championship..........yet again......why are you not on LVII golf tour with your buddies..................

Vinca

(53,220 posts)
23. Tell that to the $2 grapefruit in the produce department. Not a bag of grapefruit. One grapefruit.
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 11:11 AM
Dec 3

Near the $1.79 red pepper, $5.99 blueberries (small container) and $8 half rotten strawberries.

speak easy

(12,593 posts)
31. "but maybe McDonalds prices"
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 11:44 AM
Dec 3

Which is why he has been pressuring McDonald's to roll out more value meals

IronLionZion

(50,728 posts)
41. Yup, he even spoke at the McDonalds conference on Nov 18
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 02:24 PM
Dec 3

he talked about how much he loves their food but they should put more tartar sauce on his filet o fish.

Dude left out how his tariffs and mass deportations impact prices.

speak easy

(12,593 posts)
42. I have other ideas
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 02:30 PM
Dec 3

about what (non-lethal) 'sauces' McDonald's could put on his fillet o fish.

The Roux Comes First

(2,123 posts)
24. WE All Know (Even Some Maggots!) That "It Doesn't Mean Anything to Anybody" is Trump's Desperate
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 11:11 AM
Dec 3

Alternative for "I can't spell it"!

yardwork

(68,885 posts)
27. His affluent followers won't care about what he says, but...
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 11:19 AM
Dec 3

The ordinary Americans who vote their pocketbooks don't care what any politician says about the economy - they care what they have to pay in the checkout line.

We saw this in 2024 when a lot of voters angrily rejected Kamala Harris's cheerful assurances that Bidenomics was working. (It was working - but not fast or well enough for a lot of voters.)

Trump can say or do anything but in the end a lot of Americans don't pay much attention and don't really care what politicians say - whether it's good (Biden) or atrocious (Trump). They care what they're paying.

maxsolomon

(38,108 posts)
34. I guess a Con Man would know a Con Job when he sees one.
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 12:25 PM
Dec 3

As usual: every accusation is a confession.

President Bullshit Artist.

Bayard

(28,358 posts)
36. Of course, its all Biden's fault
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 01:04 PM
Dec 3

That's all MAGAts have to hear. Egg prices coming down because bird flu getting under control, but trump takes credit for it, while healthcare costs double.

Escurumbele

(4,001 posts)
38. What "political edge"? When did this guy have a "political edge" on the economy?
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 01:29 PM
Dec 3

The USA has gone mad, it really has.

subterranean

(3,739 posts)
40. He had a slight edge last year just because he wasn't the incumbent.
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 02:14 PM
Dec 3

Or closely connected to the incumbent, as Kamala Harris was.

efhmc

(16,057 posts)
39. Spoken by a person who was given and is now stealing all the money he has ever "had".
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 01:31 PM
Dec 3

Never lived on a budget. Never tried to figure out if you or your family had the money for any basic needs, much less new glasses or shoes. Much less frivolities like clothes, heating, doctors' and dentist's visits. You who have had to live with a junk heap of a car until you had the means to get something better know what "affordability" means. It is very real.

Response to speak easy (Original post)

MarineCombatEngineer

(17,552 posts)
46. Hey, Pedonald,
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 03:50 PM
Dec 3

I 100% agree with you, so, please, keep on message, it's a sure winner for the 2026 midterms and the 2028 Presidential Election.
I'm fully on board with this messaging.

Scubamatt

(249 posts)
48. Didn't just a day or two ago . . .
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 05:45 PM
Dec 3

he claim that he wanted to be "the Affordability President"? No wonder this dud needs multiple MRIs!

ProfessorGAC

(75,684 posts)
51. Inflation Was 2.9% In 2024
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 06:24 PM
Dec 3

It is now 3.1%.
He inherited bad inflation?
No, that was Biden & Obama and they fixed it! They didn't make it worse.

Figarosmom

(9,642 posts)
52. That's nice maybe now trumpers will hear him
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 06:31 PM
Dec 3

Loud and clear. If they can't afford to live it's just a hoax.

Norrrm

(3,872 posts)
55. In 2024, Trump campaigned on affordability. Said he was going to lower prices on day one.
Wed Dec 3, 2025, 08:58 PM
Dec 3

Wonder if there is a list of things he lowered the price?



Short list. He has increased the national debt even more.

BIGLY

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