Topline
President Donald Trump once again dismissed Americans’ economic concerns as a problem made up by Democrats and went as a far as calling affordability “a fake word,” effectively putting him at direct odds with his own administration’s data as consumer prices rise at their fastest pace in three years and his vice president publicly acknowledges Americans are struggling.
US President Donald Trump addresses the media during a closing press conference at the G7 summit in France, on June 17, 2026.
AFP via Getty Images
Key Facts
Trump spoke at the G7 summit on Wednesday to declare the U.S. has “the strongest economy we’ve ever had” and called affordability a “fake word made up by the Democrats.”
He also claimed he “inherited these prices” from the Biden administration, but the annual inflation rate and unemployment rate were lower when Trump took office.
The president’s remarks came as the Federal Reserve held its first policy meeting under new chair Kevin Warsh, where the Fed’s Open Market Committee voted to hold interest rates steady but signaled at least one hike will come later this year.
His comments also follow a statement from Trump last week that he “loves the inflation” caused by the Iran War after federal data showed the Consumer Price Index rose 4.2% annually in May, the steepest rate since April 2023.
The May inflation reading marked the third consecutive month of accelerating price growth, with energy costs accounting for more than 60% of the monthly increase, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.
CRUCIAL QUOTE
“There’s a lot we’ve got to do, but I think that we’re doing as much as we can. We’re going to keep on working at it,” Vice President JD Vance said on Tuesday after calling the affordability problem “very real.”
Key background
Trump has been blasting the ongoing affordability crisis as a hoax since late last year. He said the word “affordability” is a con job by the Democrats and “doesn’t mean anything to anybody,” despite polls showing Americans largely blame him for skyrocketing prices. Trump briefly promoted his administration’s policies on affordability in January as he called for a one-year cap on credit card interest rates at 10%, but reverted to old messaging quickly thereafter. The Iran war, which Trump started in February alongside Israel, has pushed inflation higher, largely through increased energy prices. The average gallon of gas cost $4.02 nationwide as of Wednesday, up from $3.16 one year ago, and economists have estimated the war will add about 0.6 percentage points to U.S. headline inflation in 2026.
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