Trump scoffs at ‘affordability’ as he touts economic policies at Georgia rally | Donald Trump
Donald Trump derided the word “affordability” as a political message at a campaign rally on Wednesday, describing it as a term coined by Democratic political consultants to criticize his presidency. While the president ignored the concept of affordability, he devoted much of his speech at Wheeler High School to touting the bread-and-butter benefits of his economic policies.
“So I want you to remember this: if you’re paying a little bit more — a lot of it is coming down now, we’re actually going down very quickly,” Trump said in Marietta, a suburb of Atlanta, predicting higher prices today as a lasting impact of the Biden administration.
Americans are generally disappointed with Trump’s handling of the economy; Only 33% of voters recently approved this decision. Washington Post-Ipsos pollIt’s an assessment that could hurt his party’s hopes of breaking historical precedent and retaining control of Congress in November’s midterm elections.
The president was in Georgia, a politically divided state where high-profile contests for governor and Senate are taking place, to promote newly funded “Trump accounts” funded by $1,000 from the federal government that create tax-free investment funds for every child born through 2028.
Speaking before the president, treasury secretary Scott Bessent hit out at New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani, calling the accounts a “triumph of capitalism over socialism.”
“Take a look at our campuses and classrooms today — except, of course, here at Wheeler — and you will see our students being sold the seductive lie that government can fix every problem, redistribute every dollar, and replace its judgment with ours,” Bessent said.
“In New York, the current mayor came to power by repackaging the failed ideals of the past as the moral cause of the future. But in Georgia, you know that underneath that youthful veneer is the oldest impulse in politics, which is to concentrate power and then call it compassion.”
Multiple Republican candidates joined Trump in Marietta; in which the president compared U.S. senator Jon Ossoff, a Democrat seeking re-election in one of the most closely watched races of the cycle, to the Pee-wee Herman character played by the late actor Paul Reubens. Polls show Ossoff with a lead over U.S. congressman Mike Collins, the Republican candidate, in a Senate race in Washington where his vote is needed to help pass a budget bill that would fund the Iran war and other White House priorities.
Georgia’s Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson has vowed to demand the state legislature match a $1,000 federal contribution to Trump’s childhood investment accounts if elected. If they couldn’t make it, Jackson said he would match the figure himself.
Jackson is the founder of Jackson Healthcare, a medical staffing company. His personal net worth is estimated at more than $3 billion.
In 2024, the state of Georgia recorded more than 126,000 live births; This means an annual contribution of $126 million to Trump accounts. Georgia began fiscal year 2026 with an unprecedented budget cushion of nearly $15 billion in the bank and $9 billion in unrestricted funds. This surplus resulted from conservative budgeting that began in 2021 in response to pandemic pressures.
That money has become an intense political issue, with Republicans looking for ways to provide property tax relief and Democrats advocating a broader investment in health care and child care support.
Parents, friends and employers will be able to deposit up to $5,000 a year into Trump accounts, which will be controlled by parents and guardians until their children turn 18. The account owner will then take control and be able to use the accumulated funds for college expenses, buying a home, or starting a business. The $1,000 contribution is expected to cost the government $17 billion by 2028, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
“For decades, Washington politicians have given our children nothing but debt,” Trump said. “But in Trump’s calculations, we’re finally making sure that every young American gets a great start in life and a truly fair shot at the American dream, which is what we all want. They all want it.”
Trump increased national debt Nearly $8 trillion in his first term, more than any other president when adjusted for inflation and nearly as much as the government accumulated during Barack Obama’s two terms in office. Spending in Trump’s second term is on pace with his first-term mark, with an additional $3 billion accrued so far.
Inflation currently stands at about 3 percent, with last month’s decline of 0.4 percent due primarily to a nearly 10 percent drop in gasoline and oil prices following the brief ceasefire in the Iran war. Core inflation remained flat for the first time in five years.
However, according to AAA, gasoline prices in the US have risen above $4 again. trackingThis is a direct result of rising oil prices in the wake of renewed hostilities with Iran and the disputed Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for global oil and gas shipments.
Trump said he had just arrived from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to attend the honorable transfer ceremony for US soldiers killed in the conflict with Iran. The family of 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, accompanied the president to Georgia on Air Force One and attended the event in Marietta, Trump said.
Trump continued to claim that his policies had committed $19.2 trillion to the US economy. economists They think the libertarian Cato Institute and elsewhere are inflated with misleading investment promises.
