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Two new polls show that most in US say Trump makes concern over prices and the cost of living sound rosier than it is and they list housing, health care, groceries and utilities as top concerns
Eric GarciaWashington, DCMonday 24 November 2025 16:09 GMTComments
CloseTrump reacts as Mamdani answers question over whether he thinks the president is a fascist
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Two new polls released over the weekend show that Americans still feel significant pain about the cost of living heading into the holiday season and that President Donald Trump is not doing enough to address it.
A CBS News/YouGov poll showed that 60 percent of Americans believe that Trump makes prices and inflation sound better than they really are. By contrast, 27 percent say that Trump makes inflation and the costs of everyday goods sound about what they are, and 13 percent say he makes the news around inflation and prices sound worse than they actually are.
But four in 10 Republicans in the survey say that the president is making affordability sound better than it actually is. In addition, 25 percent of Republicans disapprove of how Trump is handling inflation and 29 percent of Republicans say that prices have increased.
Furthermore, 32 percent of Republicans say that the Trump administration’s policies have made the price they pay for food and groceries go up. The same number of Republicans say the policies have made the price of food and groceries go down.
Democrats swept elections earlier this month throughout the country, from California to Georgia to New Jersey and Virginia, as they focused heavily on affordability and the cost of living.
open image in galleryAmericans say that President Donald Trump is painting a rosier picture about prices that does not match reality. (AFP via Getty Images)The message particularly resonated with nonwhite voters including Latino voters who broke for Trump in 2024. The survey showed that 70 percent of Hispanics said Trump’s policies are making the price of food and groceries increase, 68 percent said the price of goods and services has increased and 60 percent said Trump made prices and inflation sound better than what they truly are.
The president has repeatedly called affordability, a “new word,” and a “con job by the Democrats.” But on Friday, he hosted New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office, who edged out other Democrats for the mayorship earlier this month largely focusing on the cost of rent and promising to make buses free and childcare universal.
“We had some interesting conversation and some of his ideas really are the same ideas that I have,” a suddenly receptive Trump said beside Mamdani.
open image in galleryNew York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said that many people who voted for him in 2025 and President Donald Trump in 2024 cited inflation and the cost of living (AP)Another poll from Politico revealed what costs have Americans mosts concerned. The survey showed that 45 percent of Americans cite groceries as the the “most challenging” cost of living to afford, 38 percent cite housing, 34 percent say health care and 31 percent say utility bills.
During their meeting, Mamdani said he and Trump won their respective races by focusing on the cost of living.
“I told the president that, so much of the focus of our campaign has been on the cost of living crisis and when we asked those New Yorkers who had voted for the president, when we saw an increase in his numbers in New York City, that came back to the same issue: cost of living, cost of living, cost of living,” Mamdani said. In response, Trump spoke about getting Con Edison, the energy company for New York City, to lower prices.
But cost of living did not only buoy left-wing Democrats. In New Jersey, Mikie Sherrill, a moderate, won the race for governor by calling for a freeze on utility increases.
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