CNBC\u2019s Squawk Box host Joe Kernen pressed Trump economic adviser Kevin Hassett to \u201cadmit\u201d that the White House\u2019s repeated insistence that \u201cprices are falling\u201d was \u201cnot true\u201d and does not reflect the reality facing most Americans.<\/p>\n
Polling shows<\/a> that Americans do not believe inflation has eased enough to improve their daily costs and has led to key MAGA Republicans like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA) accusing the administration of \u201cgaslighting\u201d working Americans by denying \u201cwhat is happening.\u201d<\/p>\n Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, appeared on Squawk Box Monday to face a grilling from Kernen, who pressed him on affordability and attempted to push him to acknowledge the issue.<\/p>\n Kernen argued that while inflation has eased from its peak, it remains elevated enough that the overall price level continues to rise: \u201cOne of the reasons people feel like they\u2019re not keeping up is because real average weekly wages fell during the Biden years because of the inflation, about $5,000. So it fell. However, the president is constantly saying prices have come down. Now, inflation is still 3% \u2013 it\u2019s still too high!\u201d<\/p>\n He continued: \u201cNow, oil prices, energy prices, there are certain things where they have come down, but when you keep saying prices are falling, that\u2019s not true because inflation is still, the 3% is on top of all the inflation we had during the Biden years. So we got all that inflation plus an additional 3%.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think you should admit that,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Hassett, however, refused and countered that purchasing power has improved this year, insisting the broader trajectory is moving in the right direction.<\/p>\n \u201cPurchasing power has gone up\u2026 by about $1,200 this year,\u201d he said. He framed the post-pandemic economy as a \u201c$3,000 hole\u201d Americans had begun to climb out of, pointing to wage gains and policies he said were aimed at cutting costs, from car loans to health insurance.<\/p>\n Hassett also launched into a critique of Obamacare subsidies, arguing they \u201cbasically went right into the pockets of insurance companies\u201d and helped drive premiums higher.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s kind of astonishing to me that the cost problem is somehow being blamed on us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Kernen returned: \u201cThe whole issue of tariffs, if we\u2019re reversing some tariffs to try to help affordability, isn\u2019t that acknowledging that tariffs are responsible for some of the higher prices and for some of the inflation that is still a problem?\u201d<\/p>\n Again, Hassett rejected the point.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, first, this is nothing new,\u201d the NEC director said. \u201cIf you go through all the trade deals that we\u2019ve been doing all the way through, then there have been things that we decided it was prudent based on the economics of supply and demand to exempt.\u201d<\/p>\n Kernen pivoted to the Federal Reserve and an article by the bank\u2019s former board member Kevin Warsh in the Wall Street Journal about reform<\/a>, asking Hassett what he\u2019d do if he were in charge.<\/p>\n Hassett defended the need for an \u201cindependent, data-driven\u201d central bank while maintaining that current Fed leadership had made \u201cpolicy errors.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI guess that when people think of who would be the least independent to the Trump administration, people think it would be you, Kevin, but you\u2019re talking about independence,\u201d Kernen jibed back.<\/p>\n \u201cI totally reject. I just totally reject that,\u201d Hassett replied, as a truck drove past. \u201cYou know, the bottom line is that you do the job that you have, and if somebody\u2019s going to go in, they\u2019re going to be the Fed chair, then their job 100% of the time is to run an independent, data-driven Fed. And right now, my job is to be at the White House, to serve the president every day.\u201d<\/p>\n