Donald Trump has been trying to present himself as the person who will make life more affordable for Americans, even though he has often brushed off the rising cost of living as if it isn’t a real issue. On Saturday morning, he went on social media and called himself “the affordability president,” using exaggerated claims and confusing numbers to argue that he is bringing down prices and will help Republicans win the 2026 midterm elections.
In his Truth Social post, Trump said that because he gave the U.S. “favored nations status,” prescription drug prices were supposedly dropping by “500%, 600%, 700%, and more.” These kinds of statements have become common from him during his second term. Earlier in the year, he even claimed he would cut drug prices by 1,500%, even though fact-checkers explained that the math doesn’t make sense — prices can’t fall by more than 100% without meaning people are being paid to take the drugs.
Trump insisted that no other president had ever achieved anything like this and that his actions would make health care far cheaper and better. He urged Republicans to take credit for these supposed accomplishments and said that if voters heard the “real story,” the GOP would win the next midterms by a huge margin. He ended his post by repeating that he is “the affordability president” and telling his supporters to promote that idea loudly.
What makes this shift striking is that Trump spent weeks dismissing the idea of “affordability” as if it were meaningless. He even claimed “affordability” was a “new word” people were suddenly using. He said overall prices had already fallen and argued that the real problem was Republicans failing to talk enough about how much money he claims to have saved Americans. He blamed Democrats for “lying” about rising costs, despite everyday people still struggling with high prices on groceries, housing, and other essentials.
The rising cost of living has become such a major political issue that even conservative commentators have publicly warned the Republican Party. Bill O’Reilly told GOP leaders they need to act soon, and Laura Ingraham said the 2026 elections are “looking ugly” for Republicans if they don’t address voters’ concerns. Other Republicans have expressed similar worries.
Trump’s social media post also came after Democrats performed very well in important races across the country earlier in the month. Many of those campaigns focused heavily on affordability and financial stress. After those Democratic victories, Trump tried to redirect blame, saying the losses only happened because the government shutdown created bad conditions for Republicans. He blamed the shutdown on Democrats and insisted that Republicans would have won if “TRUMP WASN’T ON THE BALLOT,” implying that his absence from the races was the real reason Democrats succeeded.
His latest comments show how much pressure the affordability issue is putting on him and the GOP. Even though he continues to claim he has already solved the problem, many voters and even some allies clearly do not believe those claims.
