President Donald Trump said Democrats have stopped focusing on affordability because, he argued, they have been “getting beaten badly” on the issue after years of high prices and inflation.
In remarks addressing the economy, Trump said affordability was once a central Democratic talking point but has since disappeared as prices have come down under his administration.
“You don’t hear the word affordability issued by the Democrats anymore,” Trump said.
“Now they’re going into other things because they’re getting beaten badly on affordability.”
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Trump said when he returned to office, he inherited severe economic problems, including sharply higher consumer prices.
“Remember that when I was elected, I came into office, I inherited a total mess, starting with eggs, which were four times higher than they were just a year before,” Trump said.
Trump credited his administration with quickly reducing prices, pointing to egg costs as an example.
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He recounted discussions ahead of the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, when aides suggested using plastic eggs because of price concerns.
“Before Easter, they said they wanted me to buy plastic eggs for the egg hunt at the very famous egg hunt at the White House, sir, would you buy plastic eggs?” Trump said.
“I would buy a lot of, like, 100,000 eggs.”
Trump said he rejected the idea and insisted on real eggs, adding that prices fell in the months that followed.
“They said we’re not going to buy plastic eggs,” Trump said.
“And by the time we had the Egg Hunt, a few months later, we had the prices down pretty good, and now they’re really low. Now they’re at a very low level.”
Trump said affordability faded as a political issue because his administration was dealing with historically high inflation that has since eased.
“So we really have, you don’t hear the word affordability because we inherited very high prices,” Trump said.
“That we inherited the highest inflation in 48 years.”
Trump acknowledged previously overstating the inflation timeline but said the correction did not change the severity of the problem he inherited.
“I say the history of our country, I think it sounds almost the same,” Trump said.
“Actually, I think 48 years sounds actually worse, for some reason. So I’ll go with the 40 because the press corrected me. I said, History, and they said, it’s not a history, it’s 48 years. I said, I’ll accept that.”
Trump said inflation has since cooled significantly, pointing to recent remarks from the Federal Reserve chairman, though he made clear he disagrees with the chairman’s assessment.
“And we had the highest inflation in 48 years,” Trump said.
“We have now very as you saw yesterday with the Fed. I’m not a fan of his he said that inflation, essentially, is not a factor.”
Trump said he responded publicly to the Federal Reserve chairman’s comments but declined to repeat them.
“It’s really been pretty amazing,” Trump said.
“I just put out a statement about his statements. I won’t repeat America, because they’re too, too angry.”
Trump concluded by pointing to tax cuts passed under his administration, saying they will soon benefit millions of Americans.
“And thanks to our tax cuts, millions of Americans will soon receive,” Trump said.
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