Posted on 12/21/2025 6:17:11 PM PST by Angelino97
What can Donald Trump do to stop morphing into Joe Biden?
The two presidents could hardly be more different in most ways—but in the one that counts most with voters, Trump is in danger of resembling his predecessor.
Americans rejected Biden and the Democrats last year because they were incensed at the lousy state of the economy. Right now, they’re not much happier with Trump’s economy.
Inflation was the No. 1 concern on voters’ minds last year, and it’s still a top concern today. Trump’s team say they plan to tout “affordability” as a theme Republicans can win on in next November’s congressional midterms. If the election were held today, that pitch wouldn’t sell: An AP/NORC poll released last week found 67 percent of Americans view the president’s handling of the economy negatively.
Yet Trump told Politico‘s Dasha Burns in a Dec. 8 interview he’d give himself an “A-plus” grade on the economy—and when she questioned that, he raised it to “A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus.” The administration thinks Americans will come around to Trump’s perspective on the economy sooner rather than later, and well ahead of the midterms.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reassures his colleagues, and his boss, that come April 15—when Americans see just what the permanent tax cuts Trump shepherded through Congress this year mean for them personally—everyone will feel great.
And Trump has a plan he thinks will guarantee a high-growth economy next year: getting the Federal Reserve to slash interest rates. He told the Wall Street Journal last week he wants “the lowest rate in the world”—indeed “1% and maybe lower than that.”
Early next year, Trump is set to appoint a new Fed chairman. He says of one leading candidate, Kevin Warsh, “He thinks you have to lower interest rates” and “so does everybody else that I’ve talked to.” Lower rates mean easy credit, with businesses and individuals able to take out more loans to finance whatever improvements, new ventures or other spending they wish.
That sounds great—it’s almost free money! —but it’s a recipe for inflation. The benefits Americans get from keeping more of the money they earn, thanks to Trump’s tax cuts, will be wiped out if inflation accelerates.
A Harvard/Harris poll last week found 57 percent of voters think Trump is losing the fight against inflation, and while that’s an improvement over last month, when 60 percent said the same, it’s a warning the administration can hardly afford to ignore. If Trump gets inflation wrong, nothing he gets right will save the GOP next November—or in 2028.
The good news for Trump is that his overall approval ratings, in the low 40s, are a little higher than Barack Obama’s or George W. Bush’s at this point in their second terms. The bad news is Obama and Bush both saw their side lose big in the next congressional elections, and neither man was succeeded in the White House by a member of his own party.
Trump is betting big on artificial intelligence to drive the kind of economic boom Bill Clinton enjoyed thanks to the telecommunications and internet revolution. The administration wants to beat China in AI development no matter what, which is why Trump just issued an executive order limiting states’ ability to regulate the technology.
But there’s another angle, too, as a report in Semafor notes: “A big car company might promise a $5 billion or $10 billion investment. The big AI companies can raise and spend orders of magnitude more” and “Trump is good at counting zeroes.”
The public, however, takes a darker view of AI, with fully 50 percent of Americans polled by Pew this fall saying they’re more concerned than excited about the increased use of AI in daily life—compared to only 10 percent who were more excited than concerned.
Trump can’t bank on AI giving him that A-plus for the economy he thinks he deserves. What the administration can do, however, is boost other sectors as well by making slashing red tape and regulation a top priority in Year 2.
Freeing up the economy is the healthy alternative to a Fed-driven credit binge. Interest-rate cuts are a drug that may produce instant euphoria, but the withdrawal symptoms are deadly—as debt-driven booms turn into devastating busts.
Trump inherited a debilitated economy from a debilitated President Biden; voters will make some allowance for that. What they won’t do is give the Republican Party another chance if it makes inflation worse instead of better.
Americans voted for Trump; if they wind up with Biden’s economy anyway, there’s going to be hell to pay at the ballot box.
Not Trump’s fault. America has been painted into a corner by 30 years of insane spending.
Yes, it is not Trump’s fault, but it doesn’t matter. He is president, and he will be judged by the economy he has.
He might be better off acknowledging the problems, blaming the dems, and saying he will fix it. Not giving himself an A plus plus plus on a middling economy.
Trump is being held to false standard. Prices will not decrease unless there is a depression caused deflation. He has halted runaway inflation by decreasing energy costs and increased income. Trump does control blues states policies that keep prices high. He can point out the difference between the cost of living in blues states compared to red.
Fix the price of beef. Chicken and eggs have come down in price. Beef keeps rising. Why?
you and this article are full of sh*t. Go pimp your garbage over at bluesky, you idiot
And it hasn’t calmed down much.
Trump wants low interest rates so he can continue to spend. He has been a debt guy his whole professional life. He isn’t changing now.
the Author
I once subscribe to Chronicles (I thought it was Conservative, it was not)
When I finally got the background, I refused to read it again.
They claimed that Monarchy was an acceptable form of government.
NOT for me.
In the next few years, the economy will be thriving…. Just like it was pre Covid. Tax cuts , low interest rates, foreign inventment and any stimulus will now be spun as bad as we try and stave off 2.7% inflation , strong wage growth and positive job gains.
This is all bs and people will believe it.
Inflation is down and the economy is doing well.
The media has done things like this before
There is a right and wrong way to leverage debt. DC has very few actual competent businessmen.
Feed and transport. The fuel for the transport is coming down, but the cost of fertilizer for feed is still high.
Plus it takes a while to grow beef. Chicken and eggs were high because of the bird flu. The flocks have recovered and eggs are being produced.
gas in maryland $2.69 and falling
Beef keeps rising because the vast majority of the processing of beef is in just a handful of extremely large packing operations that litererally control the market, just like cartels.
1. Chronicles is a conservative publication.
2. Conservatives have long held that low interest rates create inflation.
Is that no longer true, now that Trump is president? Has he, like the Soviet Union, magically upended economic laws?
Just because you listen to the Democrat propaganda does not mean you have to believe it.
He has about 6 months to get people believing in the economy, if not republicans are toast in the mid-terms, and the next two years are going to be impeachment and gridlock.
NOT for me.
It's apparently acceptable to God. The Davidic Kingdom was an earthly model for the upcoming Kingdom of Heaven.
Nonsense. Congress can balance the budget at any time—they simply to not want to. Stop spending fiat money. Cut spending and eliminate useless federal departments. Stop spending us into oblivion!!!
Perhaps try listening to the truth for a change...
🚨 BREAKING: President Trump just took a victory lap on the “experts,” posting that inflation DEFIED expectations by dropping to 2.7%
Paychecks have outpaced inflation for his ENTIRE second term...
...and the trade deficit has plummeted to a 5-YEAR LOW.
These are WINS the Fake News refuse to give him credit for!
https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/2002915459088121862
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