Donald Trump claimed that “prices are way down” for Americans in a new interview touting his apparent economic success.
The president said his administration was doing a “great job on the word ‘affordability’” despite claiming just weeks ago that the word was a “hoax” created by the Democratic Party.
Trump made the claims while speaking to Sean Hannity on his eponymous Fox News show.
“We have gasoline now down to, in many cases, $1.99 a gallon,” Trump said. “With Biden, it was $4.50, $5.
“We have it way, way…We have…,” he continued, repeatedly trailing off. “We’ve brought it way down.
“We’ve done a great job on the word ‘affordability,’ prices are way down,” he concluded. “They need to go lower. Everything follows oil. Oil is so big.”
However, fuel prices are actually much higher than the figure given by the president.
According to the most recent report from the US Energy Information Administration, the cost of a gallon of oil at the start of 2026 was $2.8. That is nearly a dollar more expensive than the number given by Trump.
Meanwhile, the Consumer Price Index indicated that the average cost for all items has increased actually increased during Trump’s presidency, despite him suggesting that prices are “way down.”
According to the CPI, the average cost of goods rose by 2.7 percent from November 2024 until November 2025.
The CPI also found that average cost of food had risen by 2.6 percent, although that increased was dwarfed by the cost of energy skyrocketing by 4.2 percent.
Oil prices did drop recently, though, after Trump suggested that there would be an upcoming surge in supply. According to him, Venezuela will soon be giving up to 50 million barrels of crude to the United States.
The deal, thought to be close to $2 billion in value, comes after Trump launched a military operation against the South American petrostate and kidnapped its president, Nicolás Maduro.
Speaking about the impact of his economic policies in December, Trump awarded himself with an “A+++++” rating.
That same month, he dismissed the very concept of affordability as a “hoax” during a rally.
“They have a new word,” he said, referring to the Democratic Party. “You know, they always have a hoax. The new word is ‘affordability.’”
Despite that, Trump seemingly acknowledged that commercial goods were becoming more expensive. He told struggling families, who were preparing for Christmas, that they should be content with buying “one or two” pencils for their children and “two or three” dolls to keep costs low.
Trump’s optimistic view on prices comes just days after new figures from the BLS, seen by The Washington Post, revealed that more Americans than ever have been forced to take second jobs to make ends meet.
According to the BLS, 9.3 million people are now working multiple jobs, smashing the previous record high, which was 8.9 million. The previous high was reached in March 2025, just months after Trump’s second term began.
The report also found that Trump had created just 67,000 jobs in the last three months, which is eight times fewer jobs than the number generated by former President Joe Biden in the same period.
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