President Donald Trump on Monday gave his economy an A-plus grade, then added another four pluses for good measure when asked by Politico to rate his performance. “Yeah, A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus,” he told Politico during a wide-ranging sitdown interview.
When Politico reporter Dasha Burns relayed the economic concerns of one Trump supporter to the president, he said that “I inherited a total mess” from former President Joe Biden. “Prices were at an all-time high when I came in. Prices are coming down substantially,” he told Politico. “It’s been 10 months. It’s amazing what we’ve done.”
Trump’s self-assessment contradicts recent polling indicating that Americans do not believe he is doing enough to bring down costs. While discussing Trump’s remarks to Politico, CNN senior reporter Matt Egan on Tuesday pointed to Gallup’s November poll showing that 68% of Americans believe the economy is getting worse.
“If voters were giving this economy a report card, it’s clear they would give it a much, much lower grade than what the president did,” Egan said. “And I’m not just talking about those five pluses. A lot of voters think that the president’s policies are doing more harm than good.”
While wages are up 4% year-over-year for high-income families, they are up just 2.3% and 1.4% for middle-income and low-income earners, respectively. Prices for goods and services were up 3% as of September, according to the Labor Department’s latest data.
“Low-income and high-income households are often living in two different worlds and experiencing two different economies,” Joe Wadford, senior economist at Bank of America Institute, told CNN. “It means that life is not more affordable, and no wonder why a lot of people feel like they can’t catch up,” Egan said. “They literally can’t, at least according to this research.”
With Americans growing more concerned about affordability, Trump in November rolled back tariffs on more than 200 food products, including such staples as coffee, beef, bananas, and orange juice. The president told Politico he would consider reducing tariffs on additional imports in the future, but said that “on some I’ll increase tariffs.”
While taking steps to reduce costs and announcing a new $12 billion bailout plan for farmers impacted by his tariffs, Trump has continued to call affordability a “con job” and “Democrat scam.”
“Prices are coming down,” Trump told Politico. “The Democrats love to say affordability, but then they never talk about it. They’re the ones that gave us the high prices. I’m the one that’s bringing them down.”
https://www.nj.com/politics/2025/12/why-trump-believes-he-deserves-an-a-on-the-economy-when-many-americans-are-giving-him-an-f.html