The White House is declaring victory on turning around the economy, after months of aides\u2019 urging the president to find a more empathetic tone on Americans\u2019 financial struggles.<\/p>\n
But public attitudes about the economy have not risen to match the record-breaking stock market and expectations-beating inflation and jobs report, defining the challenge for the president\u2019s party in November\u2019s midterms. Most Americans say the economy is on the wrong track and disapprove of Trump\u2019s handling of it, recent surveys show.<\/p>\n
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The gap between macroeconomic indicators and public sentiment echoes the dynamic that encumbered Trump\u2019s predecessor, which the current president is similarly hoping to overcome through direct appeals to voters.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we have the greatest economy actually ever in history,\u201d Trump said in an interview with Fox Business\u2019s Larry Kudlow that aired on Tuesday. \u201cI guess I have to sell that because we should win in a landslide.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since the fall, advisers sensitive to the persistent pinch of higher prices urged Trump to modulate his tone on the economy by acknowledging the pain, blaming the conditions on former president Joe Biden and highlighting his efforts to tame inflation. White House spokespeople and surrogates proved more faithful to that message than the president himself, who largely continued to insist that the economy was great and he deserved more credit.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s preference has now prevailed thanks to a record-high stock market, surprisingly strong January job numbers, and easing prices for gas, groceries and housing.<\/p>\n
\u201cPresident Trump is absolutely right to celebrate inflation finally cooling and real wages finally growing for everyday American workers,\u201d White House spokesman Kush Desai said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile Biden downplayed and ignored this reality, President Trump has been focused on ending the Biden economic disaster since Day One with policies that work. That\u2019s why inflation has cooled, real wages are up, and GDP growth has far surpassed expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at about 50,000 points for the first time on Tuesday, and the S&P 500 is also trading at all-time highs. The economy added 130,000 jobs in January, more than double economists\u2019 forecast. A gallon of gas averaged $2.94 on Wednesday, the lowest for this time of year since 2021, according to AAA. And inflation in January dropped to a low last seen in May, before Trump raised tariffs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re hitting all-time-high stock numbers,\u201d Trump said Friday in a speech to troops at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. \u201cAll I know is forget about the stock market, forget about Wall Street, your 401(k)s are doing very well. I don\u2019t have to ask you, \u2018Is anybody doing poorly with their 401(k)?\u2019 If they were, you\u2019re a pretty bad investor.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the positive signs are unevenly felt, and skew toward the wealthy. About 40 percent of adults in the U.S. do not have a 401(k) or any other retirement savings account, according to a 2025 Gallup survey. Consumer sentiment among people without stock holdings remained near its lowest level since at least 2018, and the overall average was about 20 percent lower than in January 2025, according to the University of Michigan\u2019s benchmark survey.<\/p>\n
Desai said the stock market highs reflect pro-business policies that are driving investment and will create jobs and increase wages. Most business spending and stock market increases are driven by investments in artificial intelligence by tech companies such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta. The data centers they\u2019re building demand electricity and produce fewer jobs than traditional factories, and some members of Trump\u2019s coalition such as Tucker Carlson argue that AI will reduce American jobs in the future.<\/p>\n
Fifty-nine percent of Americans disapprove of Trump\u2019s handling of their cost of living, 43 percent strongly, according to a Reuters-Ipsos poll conducted Jan. 23-25. He performed better on employment and jobs, though half of respondents still disapproved. The survey found only 28 percent of Americans said the economy is on the right track.<\/p>\n
White House officials also pointed to a four-year low in median national rents and a four-year high in the Intercontinental Exchange\u2019s measure of mortgage affordability. But those measures offer only a partial snapshot. To return to pre-pandemic affordability levels, household incomes would need to rise more than 15 percent while home prices remain flat, the exchange reported this month. Grocery prices remain volatile, with some falling and others rising – a mix that has made day-to-day food costs uneven for consumers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI brought prices way down,\u201d Trump said in response to a question from The Washington Post last week. \u201cYou don\u2019t hear it anymore – when I first came in, the Democrats were screaming \u2018affordability.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Mark Mitchell, the head pollster at the conservative Rasmussen Reports, has been critical of the Trump administration\u2019s emphasis on a surging stock market while young Americans are experiencing difficult job and housing markets. \u201cLet them eat S&P,\u201d he wrote repeatedly on X in response to videos of Trump and top administration officials touting stock performance.<\/p>\n
White House officials acknowledged that voters are hard to persuade about their own personal financial circumstances. Since the start of the administration, economic advisers regularly met to focus on policy actions that would deliver benefits Americans would feel in time for the midterms, one of the officials said. The White House was determined to adopt tax cuts earlier than in Trump\u2019s first term to ensure refunds would begin reaching households in 2026.<\/p>\n
The White House is also counting on more momentum, including interest rate cuts from Trump\u2019s new pick to chair the Federal Reserve, Kevin Warsh, and cheaper prescription drugs available through government-negotiated deals on a website called TrumpRx. The website currently lists 43 medications. Desai said the administration is working to add more pharmaceuticals from companies with existing deals and through negotiations with other drugmakers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s reason for some hope\u201d now for Republicans in Congress, said Gregg Keller, a GOP strategist working for a super PAC supporting Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the state\u2019s Senate race. \u201cIf the economy rolls this year and if voters give Trump and Republicans credit for it, that bodes well [for] us avoiding a drubbing in the elections.\u201d<\/p>\n
Voters say Trump\u2019s economy is better than Biden\u2019s, but they want to hear more about what the administration is doing to ease everyday costs of living, according to Mitch Brown, a partner at the Republican polling firm Cygnal. Only 30 percent of voters can handle an unexpected expense of $1,000 or more, heightening their anxiety, Brown said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPresident Trump knows this and his administration is working to not only address these concerns with policy, but getting the rest of the GOP to hit this message hard that we have done great work but will continue to fight hard to lower costs in the midterms,\u201d Brown said. \u201cDemocrats don\u2019t hold a majority of voters\u2019 trust on a single issue, so the opportunity to keep the majority is well within the GOP\u2019s grasp.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whit Ayres, a longtime Republican consultant specializing in polling, said while people with \u201csubstantial resources invested in the stock market\u201d are satisfied with a surging Dow, the data suggest \u201cmost Americans are still not happy\u201d with progress on inflation and the strength of the economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cPresidents who\u2019ve done a good job capturing the sentiments of the American people are those who articulate a message that is consistent with what most people feel,\u201d Ayres said. \u201cBill Clinton was probably the best of anyone at that, but it\u2019s very difficult to persuade Americans to believe something they\u2019re not feeling in their daily lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
House Republicans need Trump to use the full weight of his presidency to make the case that his administration has brought down the cost of living, said longtime GOP strategist Ron Bonjean.<\/p>\n
\u201cHouse Republicans are entering a really dangerous phase. They have to defy history. They need everything,\u201d he said. \u201cThey need a president who has the loudest megaphone in the country\u2019s history.\u201d<\/p>\n
– – –<\/i><\/p>\n
Emily Davies contributed to this report.<\/p>\n
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