Trump says economy is strong, but Americans should buy fewer dolls
The U.S. economy has shown signs of resilience with the stock market up this year and overall growth looking solid for the third quarter. But many Americans see the prices of housing, groceries, education, electricity and other basic needs as swallowing up their incomes, a dynamic that the Trump administration has said it expects to fade next year with more investments in artificial intelligence and manufacturing.
So far, the public has been skeptical about Trump's economic performance. Just 33% of U.S. adults approve of Trump's handling of the economy, according to a November survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
But Trump indicated that his tariffs and other policies were helping industries such as the steel sector. He said those industries mattered for the country as he then specifically told Americans that they should buy fewer pencils and dolls from overseas.
"You don't need 37 dolls for your daughter," he told the crowd. "Two or three is nice."
So.......the trump formula, as described in his rally speech yesterday, for fighting persistent inflation is for consumers to cut back on spending. You don't need to be a graduate of a renown business school like Wharton to know what happens to an economy, an economy largely founded on consumption, when people begin to spend less.
Lou Heddy, a retired maintenance mechanic who voted for Trump last year, said he's noticed in the past month alone that his and his wife's grocery bills have risen from $175 to $200, and he's not sure Trump can bring food prices down.
"Once the prices get up for food, they don't ever come back down. That's just the way I feel. I don't know how the hell he would do it," said Heddy, 72. (Hey Lou, neither does he)
It wasn't the only sign of an elderly man struggling to connect with reality.
The president repeatedly confused slowing inflation down with bringing down prices — which would be deflation, with its own risks. “Our prices are coming down tremendously,” he insisted, before wandering off topic. Later, he said that “inflation is stopped.” His own Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated that as of September, inflation was running close to 3 percent, almost exactly where it was at the end of the Biden administration.
Mr. Trump came armed with a raft of statistics carefully selected to make his case, and blamed Mr. Biden for leaving him “the highest inflation in history.” But then he acknowledged that Susie Wiles, his chief of staff, told him recently, “We have to start campaigning, sir.” (Inexplicably, the president called Ms. Wiles “Susie Trump.”)
I don't need to point out what some folks would be saying about Biden if he referred to his chief of staff with his own surname. Or could not differentiate between lowering inflation and lower prices. But they wouldn't be calling him a stable genius.
