Americans anxious about rising prices have been told by Donald Trump that they are “so damn lucky” he won the 2024 election.
The president used the annual McDonald’s Impact Summit to argue that his administration had tamed the “mess” he inherited from President Joe Biden, and that tariff-driven revenues and White House investment plans had pushed the country toward what he described as “normal inflation.”
“Nobody has done what we’ve done in terms of pricing,” Trump told McDonald’s franchise owners and execs during a rambling speech in Washington, D.C.
“Government jobs were going up. Real jobs were going down. So you would’ve had that catastrophe, and on top of it, instead of 20 trillion coming in, you would’ve had 10 trillion leaving our country.
“In other words, you would’ve had a catastrophe. You probably would’ve had a bankrupt country. You are so damn lucky that I won that election.”
Trump used his appearance at the event to continue his administration’s shift toward affordability messaging after a round of Democratic election wins this month and exit polls showing that voters listed the economy and cost of living among their top concerns.
James Blair, 38, who served as political director for Trump’s 2024 campaign and the RNC, told Politico earlier in November that the president planned to be “very, very focused on prices and cost of living.”
Inflation peaked at 9.1 percent in 2023 under Biden, a four-decade high, before easing to 3 percent by the time of Trump’s second inauguration in January, a level it has now reached again. Trump complained that prices rose so sharply under Biden that Americans “aren’t that happy” even as they ease.
He again boasted that Walmart’s Thanksgiving basket is 25 percent cheaper than last year. An Associated Press fact check says that’s only true because this year’s bundle is smaller and stocked with different products.
Trump also claimed credit for cheaper energy, even though many analysts say the drop in global oil prices can’t be pinned on White House policy.
The president held up stock market gains as “a hell of an indicator,” arguing they prove the economy is strong.
But the speech also came as the administration faces scrutiny over its long-running push to block the release of long-sealed files tied to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein—an effort Trump did not address in his remarks to the McDonalds audience.
Trump has said he would sign a bill to release the files—so long as people stop discussing the disgraced financier and focus on his record as president instead.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
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