Trump's affordability crisis

First published in the Brunswick Beacon, 08.27.26

In Asheville, on Aug. 15, 2024, Trump pledged “maximum affordability” and promised to “target everything from car affordability to housing affordability.”

But Goldman Sachs and Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Trump’s tariffs and his Iran War drove inflation higher than it was when Biden left. 61% of Americans blame Trump’s decisions for making inflation worse. Trump’s approval rating on inflation is just 22% — worse than Biden ever had.

A Harris poll found 95% of Americans believe we have an affordability “crisis.” Trump’s response? He pretends he never used the word.

On Dec. 9, 2025, just 10 days after declaring, “I AM THE AFFORDABILITY PRESIDENT,” Trump called affordability a “hoax” and a “scam” perpetrated by Democrats. “They have a new word,” Trump said. “They always have a hoax. The new word is affordability.”

In a desperate attempt to make Americans forget that he campaigned on “maximum affordability,” Trump claims he first heard the word after he took office, when a reporter asked about higher prices.

“They used the word — first time I heard it. It was a word, you know, made up by the Democrats: affordability. It’s a con job. I think affordability is the greatest con job,” said Trump.

Trump’s attempt to rewrite history is so absurd that news organizations have run fact-checks reminding Americans of Trump’s Nov. 5, 2025, pledge: “Affordability is our goal.”

As if Americans are blind to the higher prices they pay, Trump claims, “We’re in the Golden Age. This is the greatest we’ll ever be.” For Americans struggling with higher prices, Trump’s empty boast sounds like a curse.

When Congress passed a bipartisan housing affordability bill, Trump, who previously pledged to “address the housing affordability crisis,” refused to sign it. “I think it’s so unimportant,” Trump said, “It’s a yawn.”

Three-quarters of Americans say Trump isn’t focused on their problems — to him, they’re “a yawn.” But Americans aren’t yawning — they feel betrayed.

Nancy Briganti

Carolina Shores