Trump cites cheaper groceries, gas as he pushes back on Dem affordability message

President Donald Trump was in Pennsylvania on Tuesday night to tout his administration’s economic success after Democrats won a series of elections in 2025 and campaigned primarily on platforms focused on “affordability.”

“They caused high prices, and we’re bringing them down,” Trump told a crowd at a casino resort in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, where he spoke for about two hours. “Lower prices, bigger paychecks – you get lower prices, bigger paychecks, we get inflation – we crush it – and you get much higher wages. The only thing that’s going up really big – it’s called the stock market and your 401k.”

Affordability has become a flashpoint heading into the midterms as Republicans now fine-tune their messaging on the economy after a group of Democrats won elections in 2025 on a platform focused on cutting costs. Before his speech in Pennsylvania on Tuesday night, Trump said in an interview with Politico that he would give his economy an “A plus plus plus plus plus” grade, but Fox News’ national polling in November found that about 76% of voters reported having a negative view of the economy; That’s higher than the 67% who reported the same in July and the 70% who said the same at the end of former President Joe Biden’s term.

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Real wages were one of the statistics Trump shared with voters Tuesday to prove how much better the economy is than Biden. According to Trump, real wages have “dropped” by $3,000 under Biden; Under Trump’s second administration, real wages for the typical factory worker increased by $1,300, construction workers by more than $1,800 and miners by $3,300, he said. Trump added that real wages for construction workers fell by $3,500 under the Biden administration.

To put the situation into perspective for viewers, Trump also touched on the prices of everyday items and shared graphs with viewers showing how prices differed under his predecessor. Citing a report from Walmart, Trump said the cost of a full Thanksgiving meal, trimmings, turkey and more, was 25% cheaper under his administration than under Biden. He said the price of Thanksgiving turkeys, in particular, dropped 33%.

Trump stated that egg prices had “dropped like a rock” during his second term, with prices dropping 80% since March.

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Trump also said, “One of the most important ways to beat inflation is to free up American energy, including oil, gas and nice clean coal,” citing data that he said showed gas prices in 22 different states today are lower than they have been in the last seven years. Three of them have gasoline for as low as $1.99 per gallon, Trump noted.

President Donald Trump announced a drop in the prices of everyday goods in his speech in Pennsylvania on Tuesday night. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images, iStock)

Trump also praised low mortgage rates under his administration, $18 trillion in new private investments compared to Biden’s under $1 trillion, and a hot stock market as examples of how well his economy is doing.

“I can’t call it an affordability scam because I agree the prices are too high. I can’t call it a scam because they’re going to misunderstand it. But they use the word affordability and that’s their only word,” Trump said Tuesday night, criticizing Democrats on the economy. “They say, ‘Affordable,’ and everyone says, ‘Oh, that must mean Trump’s prices are high.’ No. Our prices are falling incredibly low from the highest prices in the history of our country.”

Trump added in his speech Tuesday night that Democrats talking about affordability “is like Bonnie and Clyde preaching about public safety.”

Then-President Joe Biden speaks to guests at electrical equipment manufacturer Ingeteam Inc. on Aug. 15, 2023, in Milwaukee. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

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Meanwhile, amid Democrats’ barbs about their “affordability” message, Trump argued that he doesn’t have to “sell” his administration’s policies to anyone because they are “the right policy.”

“We don’t have to sell men in women’s sports. We don’t have to sell trans people to everyone. We don’t have to sell open borders where the whole world is allowed to come into our country from prisons and everywhere,” Trump told the crowd. “This is our message. They gave you high prices. They gave you the highest inflation in history. And we’re telling you we’re going to drop those prices quickly.”

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.