Trump's Trials - White House scrambles to address voters' affordability concerns as Trump dismisses it

Episode Date: November 13, 2025

When Democrats swept last week's elections, affordability emerged as a key issue for voters. President Trump dismissed those concerns, but his administration is taking the political risk seriously.Support NPR and hear every episode of Trump's Terms sponsor-free with NPR+. Sign up at plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

I'm Scott Detrow, and you're listening to Trump's terms from NPR. We're under invasion from within. If you're not going to protect your citizens, President Trump will. We all serve at the pleasure of the president. The golden age of America is upon us. We are in the golden age. Each episode, we bring you the latest news about the 47th president and the policy changes he is pursuing on his own terms.

We know from experience that means challenging precedent, busting norms, and pushing against set ideas about what the federal government can and can't do. It all raises questions about how much Washington and the country will change over the course of this term. NPR is covering it all in stories like the one you are about to hear right after this. You're listening to Trump's terms from NPR. And I'm Steve Inskeep. In 2024, President Biden and his party had a problem. They kept saying the economy was the best it had ever been and many voters weren't feeling that. Democrats lost the election. In 2025, President Trump and his party have the same

problem. They keep saying the economy is the best, and many voters aren't feeling it. In polls, voters rank the economy and cost of living as their top concern, and a majority say the president's policies have made things worse. NPR senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith reports on what the White House is trying to do about it. After sweeping wins by Democrats in last week's elections where the cost of living was a key issue. President Trump suddenly had a lot to say about affordability. The affordability is much better with the Republicans. The only problem is the Republicans don't talk about it. And Republicans should start talking about it and use their heads. But earlier this week, when Laura Ingram of the Fox News Channel pressed Trump on rising costs of

things like coffee and ground beef, he called it a, quote, con job by the Democrats. And why are people saying they're anxious about the economy. Why are they saying that? I don't know that they are saying. I think polls are fake. We have the greatest economy we've ever had. As evidence, Trump points to his tariff policy and pledges by companies and countries to invest in the U.S. And frequently, he talks about the stock market. We have the greatest economy in our history. We have the highest stock market. All these things are rocking. Inflation is dead. 401Ks and retirement accounts just hit an all-time record. The stock market has set 40-time all-time record highs and just recently record high, record high, record high.

But those numbers don't seem to be helping Trump's numbers with voters. People don't want to hear everything is awesome if they are struggling. Jason Furman is a professor of economics at Harvard. Consumer confidence is near the lowest it's ever been. People are really negative about inflation. Furman, who served in the Obama administration, says the messaging team in that White House was very cautious not to brag about the economy as the nation emerged from the Great Recession. Because they thought anything we said positive about the economy risked people thinking President Obama was out of touch. I didn't see that type of reserve when Biden was president. He bragged about it quite a lot. And I think that rung hollow with a lot of people.

And President Trump is even less reserved about his bragging. A senior administration official not authorized to speak on the record tells NPR, Trump's domestic travel will pick up soon. And his message will be that while some things have improved, there is more work to do to help people feeling economic strain. The official added that when it comes to affordability, there is no finish line. And in an interview with Fox News yesterday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced relief would be coming soon on some Trump-imposed tariffs that, have been driving up grocery prices. You're going to see substantial announcement over the next couple of days in terms of things we don't grow here in the United States, coffee being one of them, bananas, other fruits, things like that. So that will bring the prices down very quickly. Former Trump Economic Advisor Stephen Moore says there are three major cost issues

that have to be addressed, grocery prices, home prices, and health care costs. It is true, factually, that the average family has more purchasing power today than they did, you know, when Biden left office. And yet people don't feel it. You know, they're not feeling the love. And I can't explain why that is, except that people tend to focus on things where their prices are rising. He says people are in a crabby mood when it comes to the economy right now. And they get reminders that things are more expensive every time they go to the market or open a power bill. Tamara Keith and PR News.

Before we wrap up a reminder, you can find more coverage of the Trump administration on the NPR Politics podcast, where you can hear NPR's political reporters break down the day's biggest political news with new episodes every weekday afternoon. And thanks, as always, to our NPR Plus supporters who hear every episode of the show without sponsor messages. You can learn more at plus.npr.org. I'm Scott Detrow. Thanks for listening to Trump's terms from NPR. Thank you.