WASHINGTON \u2014 Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has predicted the US will end the year \u201cwith 3% real GDP growth\u201d \u2014 as President Trump prepares a national tour to tout his economic successes before the 2026 midterms.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe inherited a mess,\u201d Trump said at the White House on Monday, the day before he is set to visit a casino in the key swing state of Pennsylvania to discuss how his administration\u2019s policies have helped lower prices through a mix of deregulatory moves and key investments in the energy and AI industries.<\/p>\n
President Trump says Republicans \u201cinherited a mess\u201d when his administration swept into office in November. Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cBut Democrats caused the affordability problem. \u2026 They caused it \u2014 we\u2019re fixing it,\u201d added Trump, who is expected to hit more states during his messaging tour in January.<\/p>\n
The comments came as\u00a0Trump announced\u00a0a $12 billion bailout<\/a>\u00a0for US farmers \u2014 particularly for soybean producers who have been hurt by prolonged trade negotiations with China.<\/p>\n At a Monday White House roundtable, Cordt Holub, a fifth-generation Iowa farmer, told the president that the funding boost amounted to\u00a0\u201cChristmas early.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump responded that in recent talks with Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping had also floated purchasing even more than the $40 billion in US soybean imports initially promised.<\/p>\n Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the payments to farmers will be out the door\u00a0by Feb. 28.<\/p>\n Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent predicts \u201creal 3% GDP growth\u201d for the year. CBS News<\/p>\n The announcement came as the Trump White House is recalibrating its pitch to voters after a bruising off-year election cycle for Republicans in New Jersey, Virginia and New York City, which in some key districts<\/a> reversed gains the president made<\/a> during the 2024 election.<\/p>\n Nearly half of registered voters said post-election that Trump\u2019s economic policies \u2014 including an aggressive trade war with major partners such as China \u2014 are doing more harm than good, according to a November Fox News survey<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bessent waved away concerns about the issue in an interview on CBS News\u2019 \u201cFace the Nation\u201d on Sunday, projecting the US is \u201cgoing to finish the year, despite the [Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer] shutdown, with 3% real GDP growth.\u201d<\/p>\n Billions of dollars in fresh US farm subsidies are on the horizon amid the Trump trade wars. Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/p>\n The US Bureau of Economic Analysis will release third-quarter economic analysis Dec. 23, but in an early estimate from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, annual GDP growth is projected to hit 3.5%.<\/p>\n \u201cThe economy has been better than we thought. We\u2019ve had 4% GDP growth in a couple of quarters,\u201d Bessent said.<\/p>\n The government\u2019s latest inflation report, which was delayed by the shutdown forced by Schumer of New York and other Democrats from Oct. 1 to Nov. 12, found consumer prices rose roughly 3% from September 2024 to September 2025.<\/p>\n Nearly half of registered voters have said Trump\u2019s economic policies are too damaging to their bottom lines. AP<\/p>\n Wage growth also stood at 1.6%<\/a> when adjusted for inflation, according to a JPMorgan report released last month.<\/p>\n Bessent has already trumpeted blue-collar wage growth reaching 1.7% in the first five months of Trump\u2019s term, the highest level of any administration during the same period in nearly 60 years<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Bank of America Institute meanwhile estimated in an October report that the lowest wage-earning households\u2019 pay only rose 1% when compared with the previous year. The highest wage-earning households shot up 3.7% from October 2024 to October 2025, that report<\/a> found.<\/p>\n Trump says Americans will soon feel the benefit of his tax cuts. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n Some analysts have been referring to the indicators as having created an economy that is increasing disparities between rich and poor.<\/p>\n Democrats have expressed confidence that some of the poor economic signs will give them an advantage in the midterm elections, as they roll out their own Make America Affordable Again campaign for voters.<\/p>\n Trump has countered that the \u201caffordability\u201d message is a \u201ccon job\u201d by Democrats after inflation peaked at 9.1% under former President Joe Biden<\/a>.<\/p>\n