President Trump has declared a total victory over affordability and inflation, asserting that he’s “won” the battle against rising prices and public concern. He dismissed ongoing economic worries during a speech at a steel fabricator in Rome, Georgia, as reported by The Hill.
“I have to listen to the fake news talk about ‘affordability, affordability,’” President Trump stated. “Do you notice, what word have you not heard over the last two weeks? Affordability. Because, I’ve won. I’ve won affordability.” He also claimed that his administration “inherited a mess” when it came to the economy.
Despite the president’s declaration, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll released this week paints a starkly different picture of the nation’s economic mood. A significant 61 percent of respondents disapproved of President Trump’s handling of the overall cost of living. Even more, 62 percent, specifically disagreed with how he’s managed inflation. It seems like many people aren’t quite feeling that “victory” yet.
When you look at the numbers, things don’t seem to line up perfectly with his claims
President Trump has consistently maintained for months that he’s transformed an economy he says was broken by former President Biden into the best economy ever. He often points to his new, steep tariffs and the major tax-cut bill that was enacted last year as key drivers of this supposed turnaround. It’s clear he’s trying to shift the public perception of his economic leadership, which has honestly been a bit of a political headache for his party.
The annual inflation rate in January sat at 2.4 percent, which is only a tiny bit lower than the 2.7 percent annual rate recorded during President Trump’s election in November 2024. Plus, the unemployment rate actually saw an uptick. It rose from 4 percent in January 2025 to 4.3 percent as of last month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Still, President Trump is gearing up to address the economy during the State of the Union address on February 24. He’s expected to highlight any early signs of economic relief he can find. And to be fair, there have been a couple of recent bright spots. Data released by the Labor Department just last week showed that inflation actually fell below what economists were expecting in January. There was also a surprising surge in hiring last month.
“We’ve brought costs way down, and the numbers were surprising — except to me, they weren’t surprising,” President Trump said last week, reiterating his confidence. “The inflation numbers are way down. We brought it back on track.” It looks like he’s really leaning into these specific positive data points to make his case. It’ll be interesting to see how he frames the full picture during the State of the Union, especially with those poll numbers floating around.
Published: Feb 20, 2026 11:30 am