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An economic adviser to President Donald Trump has dismissed Americans’ worries over the state of the economy, claiming their concerns are a reaction to rapid movements by the administration rather than the rising consumer prices millions are having to deal with due to the president’s policies.
In comments to CNBC earlier this week, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett claimed that record-low consumer confidence measured in the U.S. was attributable to the fast pace of changes under Trump. The changes Americans are witnessing are merely too “stressful for people to see,” Hassett claimed.
“I think that one of the things that’s happening is that the world is changing so fast right now that President Trump has sort of taken every problem on Earth and gone 100 percent at fixing it,” Hassett explained.
In an unusual addendum, Hassett asserted that members of his political party should not be concerned about the current situation.
“Right now, Republicans should feel very, very good about the trajectory of the economy,” he said.
One day after Hassett’s comments, Trump himself appeared to shrug off Americans’ concerns about the economy. Asked whether the worries of the public were on his mind as the White House sought to negotiate a peace deal with Iran, Trump responded: “Not even a little bit.”
“I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation,” he added.
That same day, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) published its Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for the month of April, indicating that consumer prices jumped up by 3.8 percent over the past year, the highest annual increase since 2023. The inflation detailed in the report means that the average wage growth of 3.6 percent was essentially erased by rising costs of goods.
Americans are also tackling a rise in higher gas prices. As of Tuesday, the average price for a gallon of regular grade gasoline in the U.S. is over $4.50 — a 53 percent increase from prices a week before the war in Iran started.
The rise in prices can be directly attributed to policies and actions implemented by the Trump administration, including the unpredictable tariffs he enacted last year on the imports of most goods coming into the country, and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East, a direct consequence of Trump’s decision to launch an unauthorized war with Iran.
Polling data indicates that most Americans are experiencing economic hardships or noticing changes to their personal finances.
An Economist/YouGov poll published on Tuesday, for example, found that a plurality of Americans rated the state of the economy as “poor.” Only 4 percent said the economy is “excellent,” while 19 percent rated it as “good,” and 30 percent said it was only “fair.” In a separate question, over a third of respondents (36 percent) said they are now “worse off financially” than they were a year ago.
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