When reporters for The New York Times pressed President Trump last week about Americans’ economic anxieties, he insisted that the economy was actually “unbelievable.” He blamed his predecessor for high prices. He dismissed the polls and pivoted to bragging about his popularity on TikTok.
“The greatest beneficiaries of my economy in my first term were low-income workers,” he told the reporters last Wednesday, adding the claim that right now, “blue-collar workers are doing better than anybody else, percentage-wise, as they measure that.”
That might be news to some of the blue-collar workers my colleagues and I have interviewed in recent months who feel that times are quite tough. And it’s not exactly the feel-your-pain kind of messaging that other politicians have used to reassure voters worried about the cost of living.
In fact, other than the TikTok comments, the answers reminded me a bit of how former President Joe Biden and his allies would address economic concerns, citing statistics about positive indicators and declaring that Biden had inherited a mess from Trump.
As Democrats learned in 2024, voters don’t care about even the most glowing statistics if they feel those numbers don’t accurately reflect their own lives. And there are some rough statistics out there these days, even if the economic picture is complex.
Trump continues to face low approval ratings, including on the economy, typically the most important issue for voters. The White House is, however, urging affordability-focused policies like curbing credit card interest rates, reducing some prescription drug costs and efforts to make it easier to buy a home. On Monday, Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts liberal, said that Trump had called her and they had discussed affordability.
(The president is also now at war with the Federal Reserve after federal prosecutors opened an investigation into its chairman, Jerome Powell, further escalating Trump’s pressure campaign to cut interest rates.)
I caught up with my colleague Katie Rogers, who pressed Trump about what his message would be to disillusioned voters who are worried about their job prospects and the economy.
Katie Glueck: Katie, thanks for joining us. Did the president answer your question?
Katie Rogers: The main thing I wanted to understand from him was, does he believe that a great deal of Americans are struggling to survive financially?
If I could figure that out, I wanted to know what he would say to those people. Based on his responses to our questions, I think he really has a knee-jerk reaction when he is asked about the economy.
The bottom line: He is not convinced people are suffering. But if they are, it’s not his fault.
KG: You and our colleagues tried to bring him back to this subject a few times. Why is it so important?
KR: It is, far and away, the topic that American voters care the most about. It is a major reason that the president was elected a second time. It is what has carried Democrats to victory in some closely watched recent elections. Even Republicans are warning that voters feel that the White House is more focused on international entanglements than American jobs.
The fact that the president outright dismissed those warnings and then blamed his predecessor — even though this president is a year into his second term — was revealing.
Quote of the day
“It’s not just that politicians in D.C. don’t care that we’re paying $17 a gallon for milk in rural Alaska — they don’t even believe us.”
That’s Mary Peltola, a Democrat who jumped into Alaska’s Senate race today and is running on a message of “fish, family and freedom.” Her entry completes the Senate recruitment picture for Democrats, who face a tough map and need to flip four seats this fall to win back a majority.
Got a tip? The Times offers several ways to send important information confidentially.
number of the day
10
That’s the number of House seats in Virginia that Democratic state lawmakers are hoping to draw for their party, which now holds six of the state’s 11 seats. But Democrats are divided on just how much to gerrymander, my colleagues Nick Corasaniti and Reid Epstein reported today. Catch up on the battle over congressional maps.
ONE LAST THING
Which state should vote first for Democrats in 2028?
Democratic insiders are beginning to debate that question, and the behind-the-scenes jockeying is in full swing.
Should the party’s next presidential primary contest start in South Carolina, with its base of Black voters? Or Iowa, full of rural voters? Maybe New Hampshire, with its long tradition of going first? Or Nevada, a battleground with many Latino voters?
The stakes are high: The order of the calendar will help determine who emerges as the face of the Democratic Party in 2028.
My colleague Shane Goldmacher interviewed more than a dozen state party chairs, D.N.C. members and other strategists to learn more. Read what he found about the questions and tensions.
Katie Rogers, Shane Goldmacher, Taylor Robinson and Ama Sarpomaa contributed reporting.
Katie Glueck is a Times national political reporter.
The post Trump’s Feel-My-Pain Economic Message appeared first on New York Times.
