Trump cheers steady inflation numbers as affordability fight shapes 2026 midterm battle

By Fox News · Fox News

President Donald Trump is touting new government statistics that show inflation remained steady last month. "JUST OUT: Great (LOW!) Inflation numbers for the USA," the president wrote in a social media post Tuesday morning. Trump's comments came an hour after the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) — a broad measure of how much everyday goods like gasoline, groceries and rent cost — edged up 0.3% on a monthly basis in December and held steady at 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Core CPI, which strips out volatile items such as food and energy to better assess cost of living increases, rose 0.2% from November to December and 2.6% from a year ago. ‘PERCEPTION VS. REALITY’: TRUMP’S ECONOMY PICKS UP SPEED — BUT VOTERS AREN’T BUYING IT YET The release of the highly anticipated inflation numbers came as the Trump administration aims to address Americans' deep concerns over affordability amid persistent inflation. And the report made headlines hours before the president was headed to Michigan, another key midterm election battleground state, to deliver an address on his efforts to combat price increases. "We'll be talking about how well the economy is doing. As you know, the inflation numbers just came out, and we have very low inflation," the president argued as he spoke at the White House Tuesday morning. Deep concerns over inflation boosted Trump and Republicans to sweeping victories at the ballot box in 2024, as they won back the White House and Senate and keep their House majority. AFFORDABILITY BOOSTS DEMOCRATS AT BALLOT BOX IN 2025 AFTER INFLATION HELPED TRUMP AND GOP SOAR IN 2024 But Democrats say their decisive victories in November's 2025 elections , and their overperformances in special elections and other ballot box showdowns last year, were fueled by their laser focus on affordability. "Donald Trump is already failing to deliver on his promise of an affordable 2026, spending the first 13 days focused on his chaotic foreign p…