As President Trump mocks the term “affordability,” a new poll finds Americans are making huge sacrifices to maintain the cost of living.
Trump slams ‘stupid people’ at Pennsylvania rally
President Donald Trump held his first domestic rally in several months as the start of his 2026 mid-term election campaign.
MOUNT POCONO, Pa. – As President Donald Trump touts economic recovery and downplays affordability concerns, the latest polls show most Americans aren’t seeing any improvement and some are making huge sacrifices to save money.
The results of a poll released Dec. 11 by the Century Foundation, a progressive think tank, shared exclusively with USA TODAY show that rising prices are hitting American families hard, with the working class bearing the brunt of what the group calls the “price crisis.”
Nearly three in 10 voters surveyed said they had refrained from seeking medical care in the past year because of cost. One third said they had skipped a meal. Two-thirds of respondents said they were buying cheaper food or buying less food, and half said they were dipping into savings to cover basic expenses.
Polls show that Americans without a college degree, younger Americans, people of color, and women feel the cost of living hardship the most.
Less than a year after the 2026 midterm elections, the Century Foundation briefed several Democratic members of Congress on the poll results to counter President Trump’s claims that affordability concerns amplified by Democrats are a “fraud” and “Democrat fraud.”
President Trump blamed former President Joe Biden for Americans’ housing affordability challenges, emphasizing that costs have fallen from post-pandemic highs under his predecessor.
As the White House insists a stronger economy will emerge in 2026, President Trump this week claimed that “inflation is essentially eliminated” and gave the U.S. economy an “A-plus-plus-plus-plus” rating. But year-over-year inflation remains above pre-pandemic levels, and polls found that two-thirds of Americans think the economy is not doing well. This includes the 43% of Americans who voted for Trump in the 2025 election.
“People are communicating to us in all kinds of ways the economic pain they’re feeling in their lives,” said Angela Hanks, director of policy programs at the Century Foundation. “You can downplay it, but it doesn’t change how people experience the economy.”
Americans are less optimistic than Trump about economic recovery
The poll, conducted by Democratic polling firm GQR among 1,425 registered voters from Oct. 14 to Oct. 24, does not have historical comparative data to assess current affordability challenges versus those of the Biden presidency.
Democrats have used “affordability” as an underlying campaign message as they performed well in elections across the country, en route to double-digit wins in off-year gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia. Democrats hope to regain control of the House and Senate during the final two years of President Trump’s White House and are poised to double down on affordability policies in the 2026 midterm elections.
To mark his return to the road, President Trump visited Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania on Dec. 9, kicking off a tour aimed at addressing the economic concerns of ordinary Americans. In a 95-minute speech inside a casino ballroom, President Trump unleashed his biggest attacks and complaints, claiming that prices are trending down. He derided “affordability” as a campaign issue invented by Democrats and said they were to blame for soaring prices under the Biden administration.
“They have a new word. You know, they always have hoaxes. The new word is ‘affordable.’ So they go on camera and say, “This election is all about affordability,” Trump said.
President Trump later added, “I agree that the prices are too high, so I can’t call it the ‘affordability hoax.'” “So you can’t say ‘make it up’ because they’ll misunderstand it. But they use the word affordable, and that’s the only word they have. They say ‘affordable.'” And everyone says, “Oh, that must mean Trump’s prices are high.” No, prices have dropped significantly. ”
But a Century Foundation poll suggests many Americans face a much bleaker economic picture.
- 29% of registered voters said they had delayed or missed medical care in the past year. That includes 49% of voters under 30, 37% of Hispanic voters, and 32% of black voters.
- 24% said they had delayed or not purchased medicines prescribed by their doctor.
- 64% of poll respondents said they had switched to cheaper groceries or cut back on their grocery purchases. That includes 79% of voters under 30, 74% of black voters, 72% of women, and 71% of Hispanic voters.
- Thirty-four percent of registered voters said they had skipped a meal to save money, including 54% of voters under 30, 44% of black voters, 41% of Hispanic voters, and 39% of women.
- Forty-eight percent of poll respondents said they use savings to cover everyday expenses, including 59% of voters under 30, 57% of Hispanic voters, 55% of Black voters and 52% of women.
Polls show Americans are also less optimistic than the president about improving conditions, with 82% of Americans expecting prices to rise in the next few years. The poll was conducted before the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline fell below $3 in December for the first time in four years.
Melissa Halstead, a Trump supporter from East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, who watched the president’s speech, called Trump “one of the best presidents we’ve ever had” and praised him for lowering gas prices. But even this Trump supporter added, “I wish house prices would go down and interest rates would go down a little bit. The cost of living here is just astronomical.”
Keith Transue, 51, owner of a trucking and logistics company in Mount Pocono, said he is encouraged by cheaper gas at the pump and believes costs will no longer “rise as quickly as they did in the past.” Still, spending is still on the rise, he said.
“I don’t think the momentum is stopping. I think the momentum is slowing,” Transu said just before Trump began his speech.
The working class feels the burden of living the most.
Trump defeated Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election after calling for immediate price cuts. But the president has struggled to deliver on that promise, with steep tariffs on imports and a refusal to support an extension of expired Obamacare subsidies, giving Democrats the blame for increasing the cost of his policies.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said of the poll, “This evidence suggests that the real ‘con artist’ is Donald Trump, who promised to cut costs on ‘Day 1.'” “While President Trump focuses on building a golden ball for himself and his corporate donors, workers are skipping meals, delaying medical care, and falling behind on utility bills.”
Following the poll results, White House Press Secretary Khush Desai told USA TODAY, “President Trump and all members of his administration are fully aware of how Joe Biden’s generational inflation crisis has left American families behind. Turning the page on the Biden disaster was a first-day priority for the Trump administration.”
Polls show that working-class voters without college degrees, who have long formed Mr. Trump’s political base, are the most likely to feel the affordability burden.
They were more likely than college-educated voters (41% vs. 23%) to say they had skipped a meal, foregone medical care (34% vs. 21%), cut back on medication purchases (30% vs. 14%), or tapped into savings (54% vs. 36%). Furthermore, 42% of working-class Americans without a college degree say they have paid a bill late in the past year, compared to 23% of Americans with a college education.
As a result, the poll found that working-class voters were more likely to choose riskier “buy now, pay later” payment mechanisms to spread out purchases and payday loans (19% vs. 10%) than college-educated voters (36% vs. 24%).
“In effect, working-class people are the ones who need these risky, expensive financing tools to pay their bills, while also being the ones least able to afford these risky, expensive options in the long run,” the Century Foundation said in a report on its findings.
The working class is also likely to accuse corporations and the wealthy of economically “rigging the system.” For example, 31% of working-class voters say health insurance companies denying treatments prescribed by doctors is a big problem, compared with 20% of college-educated voters.
However, polls showed that both groups expressed support for policies aimed at cutting costs for businesses.
Among them, 88% of respondents expressed support for banning health insurance companies from denying treatment recommended by doctors, 86% said they supported banning corporate money in politics, and 84% said they supported banning Wall Street banks and hedge funds from purchasing single-family homes.
“People aren’t just hurting, they’re angry about it,” said Julie Margetta Morgan, president of the Century Foundation. “They want accountability, and I think we’ll see how that plays out in the election. People want a relentless focus on lowering prices, but that message is better received by actually identifying who is in charge.”
The poll’s findings suggest that Democrats may implement economic populist policies targeting corporations and Wall Street in the 2026 midterm elections. This approach has long been embraced by the party’s left wing, but less so by moderate Democrats.
“Democrats have an opportunity to prove that we are the party that is fighting for the poor and the middle class,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., one of the Democrats briefed on the poll. “But we must be prepared to dismantle concentrated corporate power and return that power to the American people.”
Contributor: Max Augugliaro of Pocono Record
X Contact Joey Garrison at @joeygarrison.
