After GOP election losses, Trump tries to wrestle affordability issue back from Democrats [View all]

"We are the ones that have done a great job on affordability... but we just lost an election, they said, based on affordability," Trump said Nov. 6.

Two days after Democrats rode concerns about consumer costs to big election wins in Virginia, New Jersey, and other parts of the country, the second-term Republican president tried to reclaim the economy as one of his administration's bedrock efforts.

(snip)

Trump's comments came after Democrats won governors' races in New Jersey and Virginia, and the New York City mayor's race, on Nov. 4 with candidates who focused heavily on affordability, including energy prices in New Jersey and high rents in New York City.

Their commanding victories − both new governors won by double digits − put persistently high consumer costs under Trump's administration in the spotlight and sounded alarm bells for the GOP, prompting Republicans such as former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to say the party needs to focus more on bringing down costs.

(snip)

More than 7 in 10 U.S. adults rate current economic conditions as either "poor" or "very poor," and 61% say Trump's policies have worsened the economy, according to a CNN/SSRS survey released this week.

(snip)

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/11/06/donald-trump-election-democrats-affordability-virginia-new-jersey/87129150007/