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President Donald Trump was in Pennsylvania Tuesday night touting his administration’s economic success, after Democrats swept a series of elections in 2025 while campaigning primarily on platforms focused on “affordability.”
“They caused the high prices and we are lowering them,” Trump told the crowd at a casino in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, with whom he spoke for nearly two hours. “Lower prices, bigger wages – you get lower prices, bigger wages, we have inflation, we’re crushing it, and you get much higher wages. The only thing that’s really going up in a big way is the so-called stock market and their 401k.”
Affordability has become a flashpoint heading into the midterm elections, and Republicans are now sharpening their messaging on the economy after a slew of Democrats won elections in 2025 on a platform focused on cutting costs. Before Tuesday night’s speech in Pennsylvania, Trump told Politico in an interview that he would give his economy an “A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus” grade, but a national Fox News poll in November found that about 76% of voters reported they view the economy negatively, up from 67% who reported the same in July, and up from 70% who said the same at the end of former President Joe Biden’s term.
TRUMP INSISTS PRICES ARE ‘DOWNING’, BLAMES SUPPLY, BUT VOTERS SAY THEY ARE STILL BEING SQUEEZED
President Donald Trump looks at the crowd as he arrives to deliver remarks on the economy at Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, on December 9, 2025. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
Real wages were among one of several statistics Trump shared with voters Tuesday to demonstrate how much better the economy is under his administration than under Biden. According to Trump, real wages “plummeted” by $3,000 under the Biden administration, while under the second Trump administration, the president said, the typical factory worker has seen their real wages rise by $1,300, construction workers by more than $1,800, and miners by $3,300. Trump added that under the Biden administration, real wages for construction workers fell by $3,500.
To put things into perspective for the audience, Trump also touched on the price of everyday goods and shared charts with the audience showing how prices differed during his predecessor’s tenure. Citing a Walmart report, Trump said the cost of a full Thanksgiving meal, sides, turkey and all, is 25% cheaper under his administration than under Biden. He said the price of Thanksgiving turkeys specifically also dropped 33%.
Trump added that egg prices have “dropped like a rock” during his second term, noting that their price has dropped 80% since March.
TRUMP’S APPROVAL INCREASES AS REPUBLICANS STAY BEHIND PRESIDENT’S AFFORDABILITY AGENDA: POLL
“One of the most important ways we are defeating inflation is by unleashing American energy, including clean, beautiful oil, gas and coal,” Trump also said, citing data he said shows 22 different states have lower gas prices today than at any time in the last seven years. Three of them, Trump noted, have gas for just $1.99 a gallon.
President Donald Trump touted a drop in prices for everyday goods during his speech in Pennsylvania on Tuesday night. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images, iStock)
Trump also touted lower mortgage rates under his administration, $18 trillion in new private investments compared to Biden’s less than $1 trillion and a rising stock market as examples of how his economy is doing well.
“I can’t call it an affordability hoax because I agree the prices were too high. I can’t call it a hoax because they’ll misunderstand it. But they use the word affordability and that’s their only word,” Trump said while criticizing Democrats on the economy Tuesday night. “They say ‘affordability’ and everyone says, ‘Oh, that must mean Trump has high prices.’ No. Our prices are coming down tremendously from the highest prices in the history of our country.”
Trump added during his Tuesday night speech that Democrats talking about affordability “is like Bonnie and Clyde preaching about public safety.”
Then-President Joe Biden speaks to guests at Ingeteam Inc., a maker of electrical equipment, on August 15, 2023 in Milwaukee. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
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Meanwhile, amid his criticism of Democrats for their “affordability” messages, Trump argued that he doesn’t have to “sell” his administration’s policies to anyone, because they are “the right policy.”
“We don’t have to sell men in women’s sports. We don’t have to sell transgender people to everyone. We don’t have to sell open borders where everyone can come into our country from prisons and from anywhere,” Trump told the crowd. “That’s our message. They gave them high prices. They gave them the highest inflation in history. And we assure you that we are lowering those prices quickly.”
Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.