Workers Face Costs as Trump Claims a “Golden Age”

Economic confidence fell to its lowest level in more than a decade in October. The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate reached its highest level in nearly three years, and unemployment rose the previous month. Against those pressures, President Donald Trump called the economy a “golden age,” while Vice President JD Vance acknowledged that people remain financially strained and said, “we’re working on it.”

Who Pays

Recent economic data showed high gasoline prices intensifying inflation. More expensive oil and gas are beginning to push up prices elsewhere. Trump has acknowledged high gas prices, but called them “a small price to pay” for keeping the United States and the world safe with the Iran war.

Conda Little, a 76-year-old retiree who saw Trump in Dalton, Georgia, on Friday, said, “I think he talks it up,” and “I think Vance is more real.” She said she trusted Trump to secure a victory over Iran in a way that benefited U.S. consumers, but added, “Everybody’s real upset about the gas” and “groceries are out of sight.” “It’s hard. It’s really hard,” she said. “I think that people need to hear the truth.”

Mary Bunker, 67, a Republican who attended Trump’s Monday rally near Wichita, Kansas, works multiple jobs, including as a waitress and DoorDash driver. High gas prices affect her, she said, while she also supports tax breaks Trump signed into law the previous year. “I think he’s a very good businessman,” Bunker said. “He’s been in business a long time, so I think he knows what he’s talking about.” The report gives no figure for the tax breaks or their distribution.

Two Messages from the Administration

Trump complained in Nebraska earlier in October, “They hit me with affordability, and that’s the first time I ever heard the word used.” He told reporters he gave himself “an A+ on the government, on economics, on everything,” and dismissed affordability concerns as a “hoax.” At a Kentucky campaign event on Saturday, he said, “We’re in the golden age of America. So our nation is doing better now than ever before.”

Vance said in Texas last month that “there are people out there who are frustrated by the pace of progress.” At a CBS News town hall that aired Saturday, he said, “I recognize that gas prices are too high right now” and “we’re working on it.” He added, “We need to do more, and we can certainly do better.” Vance argued that Democratic predecessors had left the country in a deep hole and that the administration needed more time to recover.

Vance referenced his working-class upbringing in a Rust Belt town. “I grew up in a working-class family. When gas prices were high, I know that it made my grandmother suffer, and I’m sure that you’re struggling with it in a variety of ways,” he said. Asked about the difference between his and Trump’s economic messages, Vance said Trump was discussing new investments coming into the country and that changes take time. The report didn’t identify the investors or provide figures for those investments.

Campaign Promises and Material Conditions

Trump’s economic message was contrasted with his focus on beautifying Washington and building a large White House ballroom. During a visit to an economically struggling part of Arizona that month, he spoke about receiving a luxury jet from Qatar for use as Air Force One. In speeches Friday and Saturday, he joked that diners at his Mar-a-Lago club would pay “$5,000” for “one hamburger and a small dessert.”

Santiago Rodriguez, a 19-year-old Texas college student who attended a rally last week for Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico and will vote for the first time this year, said he might consider voting Republican, but not while Trump was in charge. “I think he’s out of touch, I think he’s never seen what a true day as a Texan or anybody in general who is in the working class,” Rodriguez said.

Cindy Massengill, 67, who attended Trump’s event in Dalton, said she thought he was doing the best he could. “I’m positive that he’s got done more than any other president after the mess we were left with Obama and Biden,” she said. The report also cited campaign events in deep-red areas where Republican candidates sought a boost, redistricting in Texas and Florida, and Trump’s trip to Alaska amid a close Senate race. It described competing claims about recovery but supplied no figures on the administration’s new investments, the tax breaks, or how either would affect people facing high fuel, grocery, and housing costs.