Trumps affordability bombast wont solve his very real economic problems

Is the affordability issue making President Trump schizophrenic?“I don’t want to hear about the affordability!” Trump declared in a Fox News interview last month after falsely claiming the cost of a Thanksgiving dinner would be 25% cheaper than in 2024.After Democratic candidates bludgeoned their Republican opponents with the issue in last month’s elections, Trump proclaimed on Truth Social Nov.29: “I AM THE AFFORDABILITY PRESIDENT.

TALK LOUDLY AND PROUDLY!”At a White House Cabinet meeting Tuesday, Trump relapsed, revealing that the issue of affordability is a “hoax” and a “Democrat scam.”Did Trump reach this conclusion by surveying members of his Mar-a-Lago club or what?“Affordability” epitomizes how Trump is floundering on what had been one of his strongest issues.A Gallup survey found that only 36% of Americans approve of Trump’s economic performance while a Fox News poll found that 76% of voters disapprove of Trump’s economy — an even worse rating than Joe Biden scored at the end of his presidency.

 The White House acts as if more bluster can solve the problem.But is the Trump administration now targeting its economic message solely to people who failed high-school mathematics?On Truth Social last month, Trump proclaimed, “DRUG PRICES ARE FALLING AT LEVELS NEVER SEEN BEFORE, 500%, 600%, 700%, and more.”Actually, drug prices cannot fall more than 100% unless people are getting paid to swallow the durn free pills.But it’s worse than that.

Prescription-drug prices have in fact increased roughly 2% this year, according to federal data.Trump did cajole price cuts for Ozempic and similar drugs — what the president Tuesday called “the fat drug, F-A-T, for fat people.” \But that wasn’t sufficient to reduce drug prices overall.Trump talks as if tariff revenue is magic beans that multiply every time he makes a wish.

He announced Tuesday at the White House that “in the not-too-distant future, you won’t even have income t...