(NewsNation) — Despite new polling indicating that Americans are struggling with affordability under the Trump administration, the president continues to tout the nation’s economy since returning to office.
A recent AP-NORC poll shows just 31% of voters approve President Donald Trump’s handling of the economy — the lowest poll rating for either of Trump’s terms.
With pivotal midterm elections less than a year away, Trump has signaled that affordability is a primary concern, and new economic projections this week from the Federal Reserve reveal faster growth, lower inflation and steady unemployment could be on the horizon for 2026.
At a rally-style speech in Pennsylvania this week, Trump announced that he has “no higher priority than making America affordable again,” while also touting a healthy stock market and describing the media discussions surrounding affordability as a “hoax.”
Democrats “caused the high prices and we’re bringing them down,” Trump added.
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Federal reserve lowers interest rates again, projects positive 2026 outlook
A day after Trump’s speech, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point for the third time this year. The president, however, said it’s not enough.
“He did a rather, I would say, a rather small number that could have been doubled, at least doubled,” Trump said.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell and his fellow policymakers may be done cutting rates for now, but that’s because they anticipate the U.S. to emerge from a period of volatility over tariffs and immigration into a year of productivity, ongoing consumer spending and inflation that falls as the impact of tariffs on goods prices begins to wane.
The projections set a strong baseline for whoever Trump chooses to replace Powell when his term as chair ends in May.
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Bessent signals checks to Americans could be coming soon
Working-class Americans could see some economic relief in the near future, at least according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who recently said that Americans are going to get “very large refunds” of $1,000 to $2,000 in the new year as a result of tax cuts in Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, according to The New York Post.
“I think we’re going to see $100 [billion] to $150 billion of refunds, which could be between $1,000, $2,000 per household,” Bessent said Wednesday.
Reuters and NewsNation’s Tom Dempsey, Kellie Meyer and Patrick Djordjevic contributed to this report.
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