President Donald Trump’s latest remarks on the economy have ignited a fierce national debate, as both supporters and critics spar over the very meaning of “affordability” in American life. At a White House cabinet meeting on December 2, 2025, Trump dismissed the concept of affordability as a “hoax” and a “Democratic con job,” sparking immediate backlash across the political spectrum and on social media.
Trump’s comments came as he attempted to counter Democratic messaging that has focused on the rising cost of living for working families. According to Fox News, Trump declared, “The word ‘affordability’ is a Democrat scam. They say it, and then they go into the next subject and everyone thinks they had lower prices. No, they had the worst inflation in the history of our country.” He added, “Affordability is a con job by the Democrats.”
During the meeting, Trump cited falling gas prices, record Black Friday sales, and cheaper eggs as evidence of a strong economy under his administration. He argued that Democrats were weaponizing the term “affordability” because it polls well, even mocking an unnamed Democratic lawmaker as “low IQ” for repeatedly using the word. “She had no idea. Their prices were much higher under former President Joe Biden,” Trump said, according to The New York Times.
The president’s remarks were quickly picked up and analyzed on late-night television. Appearing on CBS’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert just hours after the cabinet meeting, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow encouraged viewers to fact-check Trump’s claims for themselves. “My favorite thing about this is that this is one you can fact-check at home!” Maddow said, as reported by MSNBC. “When you go to the grocery store and you get your bill, you can say, ‘Donald Trump says I can afford this’ and just see if it works.” She added, “You may not have the money, but if Trump says that is a hoax, check it yourself at home. I feel like this will be the vindication of all fact-checkers because now everybody can do it themselves.”
Colbert joined in, quipping, “He doesn’t have to fix it, because it doesn’t exist.” Maddow responded, “The problem when politicians do stuff like that is everybody else has to live in the real world. So when they’re say things they believe are from the real world and palpably are not, ultimately it comes back and bites them in the butt.” The audience erupted in cheers.
Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance echoed Trump’s stance during the cabinet meeting, blaming Democrats for the economic woes facing Americans. Vance asserted that under President Biden, American families lost over $3,000 in household income, while under Trump’s current administration, they gained over $1,000. “I think for congressional Democrats in particular, if they want to talk about affordability, they ought to look in the mirror. We are fixing what [they’ve] broken,” Vance said, as reported by Fox News. He predicted that “2026 is going to be the year when this economy really takes off.”
Trump, for his part, boasted that his administration had “stopped inflation in its tracks,” but acknowledged that “their work is not over.” He said that while inflation is at “a very good level” now, he wants to see it drop even further, cautioning against deflation.
Democratic leaders were quick to fire back. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said during a recent news conference, “Republicans have failed the American people on the economy. The cost of living in the United States of America is completely and totally out of control. Republicans promised to lower the high cost of living on day one. Costs have not gone down, they’ve gone up.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., echoed these sentiments, calling affordability “the most important issue keeping Americans up at night.” He argued, “Donald Trump may think affordability is some kind of Democratic ‘con job,’ as he recently called it, but the opposite is true. Americans are fed up with high costs, and they need a lifeline, while Donald Trump is tossing them an anchor.”
Social media also became a battleground. Senator Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., tweeted, “Anyone who has ever struggled to stretch their paychecks from one to the next knows that affordability is a very real thing. So no, Mr. President, it’s not a scam. And Democrats won’t stop talking about it.” Representative Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Mass., added, “Scam: Giving tax cuts to billionaires and imposing blanket tariffs, instead of ‘lowering prices on day one.’ Not a scam: Affordability.” Representative Sharice Davids, D-Kans., weighed in as well: “Donald Trump just called affordability a ‘scam.’ Easy to say when you’re a billionaire who’s never worried about a grocery bill. For everyday Kansans, it’s real life.”
Melanie D’Arrigo, executive director of the New York Campaign For Health, pointed to recent polling: “The billionaire president, who lives out of his country club and is building himself a ballroom, says ‘affordability’ is just a ‘Democrat scam’ — as 60% of Americans say they can’t afford basic necessities. Telling struggling Americans to ‘f--- off’ is apparently ‘America First.’” The Lincoln Project, a group of anti-Trump Republicans, similarly criticized the president for being “out of touch” with everyday Americans.
On the campaign trail, Democrats have found success by centering their message on affordability. In the November 2025 elections, candidates like New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill, and Virginia Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger all ran on platforms focused on lowering costs for working families. According to the Democratic Governors Association, Sherrill and Spanberger “ran and won on the economy,” highlighting their Affordability Agenda and Affordable Virginia Plan, which targeted the cost of health care, housing, and energy. Mamdani’s campaign in New York City similarly prioritized making life more affordable for residents.
After his meeting with Trump, Mamdani said he would work with the administration to make life more affordable for New Yorkers, citing his and the president’s mutual love of the city. The outcome of these efforts, however, remains to be seen.
Despite Trump’s claims that affordability is a manufactured issue, recent data shows consumer prices are up a few percentage points year-over-year. Economists attribute this in part to tariffs levied by Trump’s administration, as well as other policy choices. This runs counter to the president’s assertion that inflation has been “stopped in its tracks.”
As the debate rages on, one thing is clear: affordability—whether a “scam” or a central concern—will remain a defining issue in the coming election cycle. Americans, for their part, will continue to judge the reality of their grocery bills, rent payments, and daily expenses, regardless of the rhetoric from either side.
