WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump got a serious warning from voters that he's out of touch with their fears about a deteriorating U.S. economy.
President Donald Trump speaks Wednesday during a breakfast with Senate and House Republicans in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington.
Democrats were able to run up the score in key races across the country Tuesday by harnessing some of the same populist fervor that helped get Trump reelected a year ago — but also by focusing on the kitchen table issues the Republican vowed to fix. Now, fears about the economy made Trump the face of much of the public's discontent.
"We learned a lot," Trump acknowledged Wednesday. He later posted online, "Affordability is our goal."
Vice President JD Vance struck a similar tone, posting on social media: "We're going to keep on working to make a decent life affordable in this country, and that's the metric by which we'll ultimately be judged in 2026 and beyond."
That followed voters in the Virginia and New Jersey governor races, the New York City mayoral contest and the California ballot proposition — all citing economic concerns as a top issue. Democrats swept those elections, and it was difficult to point to any major race, anywhere, where Republicans had a key victory.
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The reversal of fortune from a year ago was stark. Back then, voters returned Trump to the White House on the promise that he could quickly bring down inflation, jump-start factory hiring and shower the country in newfound wealth from steep tariffs he imposed on U.S. allies the world over.
Instead, voters express concerns that high prices for groceries, electricity bills and housing are draining their bank accounts.
'People have 401(k)s'
Trump insists he's strengthened the economy, but there are few signs the public is putting much confidence in his claims about an American "golden age," nor his assertion that inflation was tamped down.
Recently pressed on Americans still worried about high grocery prices, Trump pointed to the stock market. "Look, 401(k)s. People have 401(k)s," the president said in an interview with CBS News' "60 Minutes" broadcast Sunday.
He said grocery prices are falling, but the most recent inflation report shows they're up 2.7% from a year ago.
Overall consumer prices rose 3% over the past 12 months — higher than the rate going into Trump's 2024 election win. The Federal Reserve targets inflation at 2%.
President Donald Trump boards Air Force One on Wednesday at Joint Base Andrews, Md., to fly to Miami.
'I don't think it was good for Republicans'
While the stock market surged and life looks good for tech executives with artificial intelligence investments, hiring slowed sharply this summer in the wake of Trump rolling out his tariffs.
The AP Voter Poll showed that anxiety about the economy helped the Democrats on Tuesday.
Trump did not actively campaign for his party ahead of Election Day 2025. With votes still being counted, he was already ducking blame, posting that he "WASN'T ON THE BALLOT."
The morning after the election, while hosting Senate Republicans at the White House, Trump was more reflective. "Last night, it was not expected to be a victory," he said.
The elections were largely in areas that recently favored Democrats, so there are limits to interpreting what the results could mean for next year's broader midterm races. Still, the size of Democratic margins indicated the degree of frustration with economic conditions under Trump.
"I don't think it was good for Republicans," Trump said. "I'm not sure it was good for anybody, but we had an interesting evening, and we learned a lot."
Later, while traveling to Florida, to lay out what he deems to be his economic successes for an audience of business leaders and athletes, the president posted another message in which he seemed to react to the election's results.
While insisting "Our Economy is BOOMING" he added, "Affordability is our goal."
That was a departure from last weekend, when Trump threw a lavish Jazz Age-themed "Great Gatsby" party at his Florida club, Mar-a-Lago after jetting back from a trip to Asia dripping with luxury.
The Trump administration maintained that the working class will soon benefit — along with the billionaires.
"We're going to see Main Street surge here, along with Wall Street, which we've already seen," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said this week on Fox News Channel's "Jesse Watters Primetime."
Demonstrators dressed as characters from the TV series "The Handmaid's Tale" protest Wednesday at the Washington Monument during a Trump Most Go Now rally at the National Mall in Washington.
In the run-up to Tuesday's elections, Trump focused his messaging on mass deportations of immigrants in the country illegally and a push to reduce crime by deploying National Guard troops to cities with Democratic leadership. Yet, the AP Voter Poll found that few of those casting their ballots considered crime or immigration a top priority.
"Our side needs to focus on affordability," said Vivek Ramaswamy, a former Republican presidential candidate and Trump ally now running for Ohio governor in 2026. "Make the American dream affordable. Bring down costs, electric costs, grocery costs, health care costs and housing costs. And lay out how we're going to do it."
Monthlong government shutdown in photos: Disruptions, delays and divisions
Volunteer Betty McNeely, right, helps a man bag food items Oct. 28 at Project Feed, an emergency food pantry in Portland, Maine. With no endgame in sight, the U.S. government shutdown is expected to roll on for the unforeseeable future, injecting more uncertainty into an already precarious economy.
Brock Brooks, a disable Marine Corps veteran, cries Oct. 30 while describing the impending SNAP shutdowns while waiting in line to enter the food pantry service at Calvary Episcopal Church in Louisville, Ky. Funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, lapsed Saturday.
Volunteers prepare emergency food packages Oct. 28 at the Tarrant Area Food Bank in Fort Worth, Texas.
Tammy Norton, a furloughed federal employee of 16 years who currently works for the Internal Revenue Service, reacts with emotion Oct. 28 as she talks about running through her limited savings to support her family during the government shutdown, at a food distribution center for federal employees affected by the government shutdown in Dania Beach, Fla. The monthlong government shutdown halted routine federal operations, furloughed about 750,000 federal employees and left others working without pay.
Volunteer Joel Hernandez helps load a vehicle Oct. 27 during a food distribution targeting federal employee households affected by the federal shutdown as well as SNAP recipients in San Antonio.
A food and supplies bank is set up Oct. 17 at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, Nv.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., disputes a reporter's question Oct. 24 as he enters his office at the Capitol in Washington on day 24 of the government shutdown.
The Capitol is seen at nightfall Oct. 22, day 22 of a government shutdown, in Washington.
Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., the Senate GOP whip, left, and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., arrive for a news conference with top Republicans on the government shutdown Oct. 1 at the Capitol in Washington.
Air Traffic Controllers stand Oct. 28 outside Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Romulus, Mich., distributing leaflets explaining how the federal government shutdown is affecting air travel. Airports have been scrambling with flight disruptions.
Travelers sit together and wait Oct. 2 at the Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport in Baltimore.
TSA agent Sashene McLean, holding her 1-year-old daughter, comes from work to collect a donation of produce, meat and yogurt Oct. 28 at a food distribution center in Dania Beach, Fla., organized to assist federal employees missing paychecks during the government shutdown.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., speaks to reporters Sept. 30 at the U.S. Capitol in Washington as the U.S. government was on the brink of the first federal government shutdown in almost seven years.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., and GOP leaders, from left, Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., and Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., blame the government shutdown on Democrats during an Oct. 2 news conference at the Capitol in Washington. Americans, meanwhile, are divided on who’s to blame.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., attends a Sept. 30 news conference about the government shutdown on Capitol Hill in Washington. Democrats seek an extension of expiring tax credits that helped millions of people afford health insurance, while Republicans say they won’t negotiate until the government is reopened.
