President Donald Trump will address high prices and a stubborn economy when he stops by a Pennsylvania swing county Tuesday to sell his fiscal message to the battleground state. But one key Senate ally acknowledged there\u2019s little he can do with the stroke of a pen or single legislative plan on the issue of affordability.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Democratic lawmakers see the topic as a strategic opportunity heading into next year\u2019s midterms, coming on the heels of key wins in the November off-year elections<\/a> and an overperformance in a recent House special election<\/a> in a deep-red Tennessee district. Several Democratic senators expressed surprise last week over Trump seeming to dismiss voters\u2019 concerns about high prices by calling the issue a \u201choax.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJust about everything is down,\u201d the president said on Dec. 3<\/a> during an Oval Office event. \u201cThey use the word affordability. It\u2019s a Democrat hoax. They\u2019re the ones that drove the prices up.\u201d<\/p>\n But polling shows voters disagree. According to a RealClearPolitics average of recent surveys<\/a>, 62.2 percent disapproved of Trump\u2019s handling of inflation, while 34.8 approved. <\/p>\n Among those critic is longtime Trump loyalist-turned-foe Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has publicly called out the president over the state of Americans\u2019 collective cost of living.<\/p>\n \u201cAffordability is a real issue,\u201d the Georgia Republican told CBS\u2019 \u201c60 Minutes\u201d in an interview<\/a> that aired Sunday. Asked by reporter Leslie Stahl about Trump\u2019s description of the issue as a hoax,\u201d Greene replied, \u201cIt\u2019s one of the top issues. Not only in my district, it\u2019s across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump fired back<\/a> Monday morning on his Truth Social platform, again referring to Greene as a \u201ctraitor.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMarjorie is not AMERICA FIRST or MAGA, because nobody could have changed her views so fast, and her new views are those of a very dumb person,\u201d he said of the congresswoman, who has said she will resign from the House<\/a> next month. <\/p>\n Before affordability became the latest Trump-Greene flash point, one Republican senator who typically votes with Trump said that when it comes to inflation and prices, any president would be forced to play the long game.<\/p>\n \u201cIn a macro-sense, there\u2019s not much with a specific piece of legislation or an [executive order]. What he can do is try not to overregulate the economy. Spur as much competition in our economy as possible \u2014 that impacts prices. Stop deficit spending, which devalues our currency,\u201d Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson said when asked what specific actions Trump could take to lower prices.<\/p>\n Johnson said affordability was \u201can absolutely real issue\u201d while harking back to actions that preceded Trump\u2019s second term.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s all caused by the massive deficit spending during the pandemic and after the four-year-high inflation that drove prices up. Some commodity prices, like energy, are coming down. Eggs are coming down, yeah, but nowhere to the level they were,\u201d the Senate Budget Committee member added. \u201cThat\u2019s the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n Across the Capitol, several veteran House Democrats said their Republican colleagues appeared more worried about affordability than the president. But Reps. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts and James E. Clyburn of South Carolina accused House GOP leaders of resisting pressure to craft price-targeting legislation, saying they have been carrying Trump\u2019s water at the expense of the American people.<\/p>\n \u201cThe speaker of the House is more interested in staying on Donald Trump\u2019s Christmas card list than he is in making sure that millions of people\u201d have more money in their pockets and savings accounts, McGovern said Thursday.<\/p>\n Clyburn also said he doubts any such measures were likely to hit the House floor. \u201cFor 10 years, I\u2019ve heard about a plan,\u201d he said Thursday. \u201cWell, I\u2019ve never seen a plan, alright?\u201d<\/p>\n Speaker Mike Johnson, however, told Politico<\/a> that his party was \u201cdialed in like a laser\u201d on the issue and that voters had not yet begun to feel the effects of the massive tax and spending law that Republicans enacted this summer. <\/p>\n By the middle of 2026, \u201cthere\u2019s going to be boats rising in the economy, this is going to be a very different situation before we go into the election cycle,\u201d Johnson told the news outlet.<\/p>\n Trump on Tuesday is scheduled to head to Pennsylvania\u2019s Monroe County to make the case that his administration has a plan to tackle high prices. While Hillary Clinton narrowly carried the Northeastern Pennsylvania county<\/a> in 2016 and Joe Biden won it by 7 points<\/a> four years later, Trump finished ahead<\/a> of Kamala Harris by less than a point last year on his way to winning the Keystone State for the second time. <\/p>\n The selection of battleground Monroe County could reflect an acknowledgement by the Trump team that Republicans have work to do on the affordability issue. His previous visits to Pennsylvania and other swing states for official events and rallies have largely taken place in safe red territory.<\/p>\n \u2018Out of control\u2019<\/p>\n Democratic lawmakers and officials often seem surprised at Trump\u2019s current message on affordability \u2014 or the lack of one \u2014 less than 11 months from elections that will decide control of Congress \u2014 and the fate of his remaining domestic agenda.<\/p>\n \u201cHis dismissing affordability as a \u2018hoax\u2019 is so patently out of touch. It speaks for itself,\u201d Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal said Thursday. Asked if he thought Trump had learned anything from last month\u2019s election results, the Democrat said, \u201cNo, no, he didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s pretty obvious that the American people are concerned about affordability, the cost of living, prices of electricity, food, groceries, rent \u2014 all of it out of control,\u201d Blumenthal added.<\/p>\n Former Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus, who served as Trump\u2019s chief of staff during his first term, said his former boss remains irked at how Republicans talk about prices.\u00a0<\/p>\n