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

[speak easy]

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.

[BOSSHOG]

1. I'm looking forward to a trip to the grocery store this

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

[hadEnuf]

2. MAGATs will be making scenes at grocery store check-outs

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

[Jacson6]

3. Who are you going to believe? Your lying eyes or me?

What a Jerk.

[joshdawg]

4. He had an "edge" on the economy???

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]

37. Gotta love that corporate media!

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

[Norrrm]

5. It was so legitimate that he was going to lower prices on day one.

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

[GB_RN]

6. Inherited The Worst Inflation In History?!?!

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.

[subterranean]

10. He inherited an inflation rate of 3.0% in January 2025.

Exactly the same as it is now.

[twodogsbarking]

11. Heating oil was 17 cents a gallon in the fall of 73. By March of 74 it was more than a dollar.

Many houses lacked insulation. Thanks for the accurated post.

[Wiz Imp]

15. Annual Inflation by Year since 1929

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]

53. Source

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?

[Wiz Imp]

54. It's from the CPI From BLS but I found it preformatted like this

on this website:

https://www.investopedia.com/inflation-rate-by-year-7253832

[yardwork]

28. Many of us on DU remember the 1970s stagflation.

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]

44. I Was A Kid At The Time...

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.

[yardwork]

47. Yes. Our first car had an 18% interest rate.

[NCDem47]

7. Here's what has gone up for me this year, and at higher rates than inflation:

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.

[yardwork]

29. Insurance and local taxes are through the roof.

[twodogsbarking]

8. If Trump says good morning it is probably midnight.

[sop]

9. Contradicts himself in the same breath...

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]

12. That POS spews daily how "energy prices have gone down" Really Trump? We have Evergy in Kansas

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]

30. That's why I moved back to Tucson this Spring.

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]

32. Good move. All Evergy cares about is larger dividend payments (.69 per share now) and keeping

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]

35. Evergy victim here, too!

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.

[Skittles]

49. yup, that's the thing these days

even if you stay afloat, you cannot seem to get ahead

[twodogsbarking]

13. Trump says, "Everyone who gives me millions of dollars says the economy is great".

That I could believe.

[gohuskies]

14. MAGA Mango Mussolini is a walking pile of fake narrative words

Hoax, Fake News, Antifa etc etc...

[2na fisherman]

17. The Make-Believe World of Trump

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?"

[AllaN01Bear]

16. gah

[kimbutgar]

18. He has never a day in his life had to go without a meal, worry about keeping a roof or paying for essentials,

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]

50. yes

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]

19. That's because he knows if he says it's a con his rubes will believe him

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]

20. Trump is irritated that people are asking for his help

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.

[IronLionZion]

21. Suck it up you losers. Stop whining

[turbinetree]

22. Hey shit for brains who is paying for your breakfast in the white house.........well the taxpayers are....while we have

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]

23. Tell that to the $2 grapefruit in the produce department. Not a bag of grapefruit. One grapefruit.

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

[IronLionZion]

25. Dude doesn't set foot in a grocery store or eat much produce

but maybe McDonalds prices

[speak easy]

31. "but maybe McDonalds prices"

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

[IronLionZion]

41. Yup, he even spoke at the McDonalds conference on Nov 18

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]

42. I have other ideas

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

[The Roux Comes First]

24. WE All Know (Even Some Maggots!) That "It Doesn't Mean Anything to Anybody" is Trump's Desperate

Alternative for "I can't spell it"!

[oasis]

26. Orange outside although full of shit inside. Conundrums abound.

[yardwork]

27. His affluent followers won't care about what he says, but...

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.

[BootinUp]

33. Con-man from hell says what? Nt

[maxsolomon]

34. I guess a Con Man would know a Con Job when he sees one.

As usual: every accusation is a confession.

President Bullshit Artist.

[Bayard]

36. Of course, its all Biden's fault

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]

38. What "political edge"? When did this guy have a "political edge" on the economy?

The USA has gone mad, it really has.

[subterranean]

40. He had a slight edge last year just because he wasn't the incumbent.

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

[efhmc]

39. Spoken by a person who was given and is now stealing all the money he has ever "had".

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.

[twodogsbarking]

43. No, no, no. It is a "Don Job". It is true but not favorable.

[bmichaelh]

45. Projecting

As someone has said before, every time Trump speaks, it is either confession or projection.

One could write a book, with one line descriptions of every Trump lie or con that he has done since he was president the first time.

PAROLES
He will lie, sir, with such volubility
that you would think truth were a fool.
--Shakespeare, All’s Well That Ends Well 4.3.248-49

[MarineCombatEngineer]

46. Hey, Pedonald,

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]

48. Didn't just a day or two ago . . .

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

[ProfessorGAC]

51. Inflation Was 2.9% In 2024

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]

52. That's nice maybe now trumpers will hear him

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

[Norrrm]

55. In 2024, Trump campaigned on affordability. Said he was going to lower prices on day one.

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



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

BIGLY