Trump touts easing inflation, economic record in North Carolina speech

WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump delivered his third economic-focused speech this month on Friday, telling supporters that inflation was easing as he praised his administration’s economic performance ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

“Wages are rising much faster than inflation for the first time in many years,” he said in front of signs that read, “Lower Prices and Bigger Paychecks” and “There are more people working today than at any time in American history.”

Trump said inflation has “stopped” and argued his policies stabilized the economy after what he described as years of mismanagement under former President Joe Biden. “The only things that are going up are your salaries, the stock market and your 401(k),” he claimed, while blaming Democrats for earlier price spikes.

Year-over-year inflation slowed to 2.7% in November, though a government shutdown that lasted more than a month created gaps in data.

Only 31% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the economy, a mid-December AP-NORC poll found, down from 40% in March. Trump used a rare primetime White House address Wednesday to defend his first year in office.

Democrats have made inflation and affordability central to their midterm messaging. Trump has dismissed those concerns as a “hoax,” while highlighting tariffs, tax cuts, deregulation and efforts to lower medicine prices.