Trump is determined to blame Biden and Democrats for consumer prices that have risen during the year he returned to the White House.
He summed his message up succinctly: “They caused the high prices and we’re bringing them down.”
“If I had one message tonight …” he added, before breaking off on a two-minute tangent recognizing members of his White House staff. “But that’s our message,” he said, returning to his point. “They gave you high prices. They gave you the highest inflation in history. And we’re giving you — We’re bringing those prices down rapidly.”
The trip hints the dilemma faced by Trump. He wants to take credit for rewiring the U.S. economy with his large tariff hikes and extension of income tax cuts, but he also continues to blame Biden for the increase nationwide in inflation rates that occurred this year during his own presidency. Overall, inflation is tracking at 3% annually, up from 2.3% in April when Trump rolled out a sweeping set of import taxes.