In what was billed as an economic address to the Detroit Economic Club this afternoon, President Trump cycled through many familiar — and often dubious — claims as he touted the successes of his first year back in office, leveled criticisms at Democrats and some Republicans, repeated lies about rigged U.S. elections, praised the operation that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, blasted the massive child care fraud in Minnesota and the Somali population living there, and attacked or mused on a broad range of people and issues. He also touched on the economy.
“The results are in, and the Trump economic boom has officially begun,” the president said, even as Americans’ views of the economy have worsened and approval ratings of his handling of it havefallen sharply.
With midterm elections looming in November and economic concerns still weighing on many voters, Trump claimed that his administration has quickly reversed the weakness under President Joe Biden to achieve an economy featuring “super high growth” and “almost no inflation.”
“We have the highest growth we’ve ever had,” Trump claimed, without any basis. “Think of that. The highest growth we’ve ever had, and we’ve only been there 11 months. Think of what we can do for the rest of it.”
Trump again criticized the term “affordability” as a “fake word by Democrats,” but he promised he’d soon be announcing new policy proposals to lower costs, reduce healthcare premiums and promote home ownership for Americans.
As his administration tries to hone its economic messaging and respond to the affordability concerns that Democrats have used to regain some political momentum, the president has proposed a series of populist policies in recent weeks. They include a call for Congress to ban institutional investors from buying up single-family homes, an endorsement of legislation to crack down on credit card swipe fees and a demand that credit card interest rates be capped at 10% for one year.
He has also continued to hammer Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over interest rates, which he insists should be far lower than they are now. “That jerk will be gone soon,” Trump told his audience in Detroit.
In his speech, Trump also lashed out at Republicans who supported a resolution to limit his war powers by requiring congressional approval for further attacks on Venezuela. He slammed Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul and Todd Young by name.
The bottom line: Trump has again been focused on foreign policy, from ousting Venezuela’s Maduro to threatening Greenland, Cuba and Colombia to encouraging protestors in Iran. He’ll be pitching more economic policies — and prodding Republicans to hone their economic messaging — but it’s not clear yet whether any of his specific proposals will be enacted via legislation. Some Republicans in Congress are working on another party-line reconciliation bill, but the party has yet to coalesce around a set of priorities for a possible follow-up to their “One Big Beautiful” package of tax and spending cuts.