The New York Post’s editorial board, traditionally in lock-step with President Donald Trump, tore into the president on Thursday for playing down Americans’ concerns about affordability as Democrats who amplified the message swept elections this week.
The editorial board of the Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid compared Trump’s remarks to former president and Trump enemy Joe Biden’s insistence last year that the economy was performing well amid inflation concerns. It warned that Trump’s tariffs have only made the affordability crisis worse in light of that inflation — potentially permanently.
“Biden is absolutely to blame for the world we live in now. His profligate spending fueled record inflation that still hurts American consumers,” the Post wrote. “But Trump campaigned on making life more affordable. Inflation may have been tamed to 2%-3%, which is positive, yet prices aren’t going down as he says — and probably never will.”
It urged Trump not to “double down” on his push for tariffs, calling them occasionally useful but said that by implementing tariffs on nearly every sector, “Trump increased the cost of almost everything.”
“The difference between President Trump and Joe Biden talking about affordability is that it was Joe Biden who created the worst inflation crisis in decades, a crisis that President Trump inherited,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement. “Putting an end to Joe Biden’s inflation crisis has been a Day One priority for President Trump, and his administration’s economic policies have already lowered prices of essentials like gas and eggs and have cooled inflation to a 2.5 percent annualized rate – half the average inflation rate under Biden. Biden broke it, and President Trump is fixing it.”
Trump tried on Thursday to frame Democrats’ focus on affordability as a “con job” during a White House event, despite his promises during the 2024 election to bring prices down. His comments came after Zohran Mamdani won New York City’s mayoral election after centering his campaign squarely on affordability.
The Post’s editorial made the same point, urging Trump not to ignore the facts. It pointed to recent price increases at Amazon, Target and Walmart, the latter of which warned earlier this year it would have to raise prices in light of the tariffs. “By denying that reality, Trump is making the same mistake as his archnemesis, Lyin’ Biden,” the op-ed noted.
“Americans didn’t appreciate being lied to by Biden and Democrats, and the party paid for it at the ballot box,” it continued. “But Americans also won’t appreciate being called liars for what their own eyes — and their own wallets — are telling them. Don’t deny things are tough, Mr. President. Take another look at some of your economic policies and help make things better.”
