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BumRushDaShow

(163,346 posts)
Wed Nov 5, 2025, 06:19 PM Nov 5

Top Trump political adviser says president will focus on affordability next year

Source: Politico

11/05/2025 02:01 PM EST


Fresh off Democrats’ clean sweep of the 2025 off-year elections, President Donald Trump plans to refocus his political messaging on affordability, James Blair, the political director for Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign and the RNC, told POLITICO in an exclusive interview Wednesday.

“The president is very keyed into what’s going on, and he recognizes, like anybody, that it takes time to do an economic turnaround, but all the fundamentals are there, and I think you’ll see him be very, very focused on prices and cost of living,” Blair, who now serves as White House deputy chief of staff, said in an interview on “The Conversation” with Dasha Burns.

Armed with a message that focused on the cost of living, Democrats had a series of wins Tuesday. Governor candidates Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger both beat their Republican opponents in New Jersey and Virginia by double digits. Democrats also flipped at least 13 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates, successfully passed a redistricting referendum in California and saw Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, cruise to victory in the New York City mayoral race.

The victors’ strict focus on affordability was key, Blair said. “Why did Zohran Mamdani do so well last night? He relentlessly focused on affordability,” he said. “People talk about communists, they can say all these things, but the fact is he was talking about the cost of living.”

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/05/donald-trump-affordability-2025-elections-james-blair-00637711



Sure Jan.

Your INTENTION was to fire tear gas near schools with children, drag women out of cars that you slammed into, fire pepper balls at priests, and go into homes and businesses to "disappear" people and deport to them to who knows where.

There was nothing about "Price of eggs", "Kitchen table issues", "Working class". Instead it was "DEI", "illegal aliens", suppression of the free press, dissolution of Congress, and the takeover of the SCOTUS.
40 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Top Trump political adviser says president will focus on affordability next year (Original Post) BumRushDaShow Nov 5 OP
President Donald Trump plans to refocus his political messaging on affordability of pardons is more like it. pecosbob Nov 5 #1
What would be a good focus Bernardo de La Paz Nov 6 #33
Right after infrastructure week and health care reform. nt wiggs Nov 5 #2
I want relief for the affordability of my own ballroom. bucolic_frolic Nov 5 #3
"The president is very keyed into what's going on", lol. tanyev Nov 5 #4
'Kitchen table issues', naturally! 70sEraVet Nov 5 #9
Real Presidents feed needy Americans. Fake presidents crow about marble bathrooms. . . . nt Bernardo de La Paz Nov 6 #35
What pathetic, dishonest, bottom-of-the-barrel BULLSHIT. (nt) Paladin Nov 5 #5
None, not one of the people he wants to persuade will buy this. efhmc Nov 5 #8
I know, right? ananda Nov 5 #19
Same OLD malarkey Bread and Circuses Nov 5 #6
What the hay? Affordability of ballrooms? efhmc Nov 5 #7
You mean, his message of cruelty, retribution, and brazen self-dealing..... 70sEraVet Nov 5 #10
Hah, hah, hah, hah, hah hah, hah Buddyzbuddy Nov 5 #11
He's going to start "in two weeks." LastLiberal in PalmSprings Nov 5 #12
Trump may TALK about 'affordibility'--- but he'd have to cancel all of his illegal tariffs Jack Valentino Nov 5 #13
Ready Fire Aim DallasNE Nov 5 #14
For about the next five minutes.... Jack Valentino Nov 5 #15
When "in two weeks" means never, what does "next year" mean? (n/t) DJ Synikus Makisimus Nov 5 #16
The dumbass literally didn't have to do anything to bring down prices--they were coming down... Ol Janx Spirit Nov 5 #17
Oh yeah, he's doing one HELL of a turnaround on our economy. C Moon Nov 5 #18
Donnie, bite me. rubbersole Nov 5 #20
LOL Skittles Nov 5 #21
He's gonna bring prices down 1000%!!! Grokenstein Nov 5 #22
I thought Stephen Miller was Deputy Chief of Staff, what happened? Nt intheozone Nov 5 #23
Won't this be admitting he lied before though? Diraven Nov 5 #24
Trump couldn't care less about 'affordability.' J_William_Ryan Nov 6 #25
"Next year"? Sounds like even Tr*mp's usual "two weeks" has been subjected to inflation. RockRaven Nov 6 #26
Which means quakerboy Nov 6 #27
Why next year? What is stopping him from starting NOW? SunSeeker Nov 6 #28
It takes a year for plans to conceptualize? Hugin Nov 6 #29
Two weeks for an affordability economic plan Bernardo de La Paz Nov 6 #32
"We can't afford these government programs." WestMichRad Nov 6 #30
Affordability focus just in time for recession and midterm elections. Brilliant. . . . nt Bernardo de La Paz Nov 6 #31
His two weeks is now Lifeafter70 Nov 6 #34
let me finish the headline... Javaman Nov 6 #36
He has a concept of an idea on affordability...He will knock a few thousand off his MarALago Club dues. Janeyre Nov 6 #37
LIES!!! lark Nov 6 #38
I've got your affordability RIGHT HERE usonian Nov 6 #39
MaddowBlog-Trump makes an overdue discovery: 'They have this new word called affordability' LetMyPeopleVote Nov 7 #40

pecosbob

(8,240 posts)
1. President Donald Trump plans to refocus his political messaging on affordability of pardons is more like it.
Wed Nov 5, 2025, 06:23 PM
Nov 5

Bernardo de La Paz

(60,320 posts)
33. What would be a good focus
Thu Nov 6, 2025, 06:52 AM
Nov 6
Evil President Sultan Trump Evading Investigation Now (but not forever)

70sEraVet

(5,117 posts)
10. You mean, his message of cruelty, retribution, and brazen self-dealing.....
Wed Nov 5, 2025, 06:57 PM
Nov 5

hasn't played well to many hungry Americans watching their neighbors beaten and disappeared in umarked cars?
The INGRATITUDE!!

Jack Valentino

(4,030 posts)
13. Trump may TALK about 'affordibility'--- but he'd have to cancel all of his illegal tariffs
Wed Nov 5, 2025, 07:54 PM
Nov 5

to make a START on anything beyond 'talk' about it.....


It is a lot easier for a president to WRECK an economy,
than to improve it---

but President Joe BIDEN did a pretty damned good job at it!


DallasNE

(7,922 posts)
14. Ready Fire Aim
Wed Nov 5, 2025, 07:55 PM
Nov 5

Trump should have been thinking about affordability before doing the massive tax cuts. Now everything will look unaffordable. You can’t fix stupid.

Ol Janx Spirit

(493 posts)
17. The dumbass literally didn't have to do anything to bring down prices--they were coming down...
Wed Nov 5, 2025, 08:48 PM
Nov 5

...because of Biden's policies; just not fast enough for the electorate to elect Harris.

My biggest fear was always that Emperor Tangerine would not actually do anything to affect the Biden economy and ride the soft landing and cooling inflation into the midterms before enacting the horrible agenda he espoused on the campaign trail. That's not at all what happened obviously--thank goodness. I believe it would have been a far more powerful strategy than to impose the tariffs, kick the abuelas out of the country, and bulldoze the White House.

Hey Blair, I've got news for you: your boss doesn't understand "prices and cost of living."

Good luck trying to get him to.

The rest of us are seriously looking forward to next year. Oh, and, go ahead and preserve any documents for the hearings that will come.

rubbersole

(10,886 posts)
20. Donnie, bite me.
Wed Nov 5, 2025, 09:05 PM
Nov 5

And stfu. If it doesn't benefit a billionaire, and you get a cut, you ain't doing shit. And if you're trying to figure out which way the wind blows, well, stay upwind of yourself.

Grokenstein

(6,206 posts)
22. He's gonna bring prices down 1000%!!!
Wed Nov 5, 2025, 09:16 PM
Nov 5

...in two weeks.

All you have to do is give up every ideal America ever had.

Diraven

(1,739 posts)
24. Won't this be admitting he lied before though?
Wed Nov 5, 2025, 09:23 PM
Nov 5

Every time he's interviewed he claims prices for everything are down - gas, groceries, eggs, etc. Also he solved inflation and we're taking in trillions in tariffs.

J_William_Ryan

(3,150 posts)
25. Trump couldn't care less about 'affordability.'
Thu Nov 6, 2025, 02:45 AM
Nov 6

If he did, he would have addressed it this year, from day one – not wait until next year only because Republicans got their collective ass kicked last Tuesday.

quakerboy

(14,657 posts)
27. Which means
Thu Nov 6, 2025, 04:46 AM
Nov 6

He will yap incoherently about it in ways that the media will have to spin somehow to try and make sound sensible, and his followers will buy it hook line and sinker while Dems try to force reps to do things to help the republican base despite their desire to harm their own followers.

SunSeeker

(57,262 posts)
28. Why next year? What is stopping him from starting NOW?
Thu Nov 6, 2025, 04:50 AM
Nov 6

Last edited Thu Nov 6, 2025, 06:39 AM - Edit history (1)

Too busy playing golf and holding billionaire parties?

WestMichRad

(2,794 posts)
30. "We can't afford these government programs."
Thu Nov 6, 2025, 06:33 AM
Nov 6

“And price of goods? Nothing we can do about that, it’s private enterprise.”
Repeat ad nauseum. That’s his focus on affordability.

Javaman

(64,914 posts)
36. let me finish the headline...
Thu Nov 6, 2025, 07:31 AM
Nov 6

"Top Trump political adviser says president will focus on affordability next year for the wealthy buying new yachts."

Janeyre

(22 posts)
37. He has a concept of an idea on affordability...He will knock a few thousand off his MarALago Club dues.
Thu Nov 6, 2025, 07:46 AM
Nov 6

lark

(25,707 posts)
38. LIES!!!
Thu Nov 6, 2025, 09:49 AM
Nov 6

He's focused on kicking people out of jobs and hurting every democratic state and it's voters. When you kill jobs and end healthcare, talking about groceries doesn't cut it. He may change the narrative, but the criminal hate filled actions against us and the world will continue.

LetMyPeopleVote

(172,659 posts)
40. MaddowBlog-Trump makes an overdue discovery: 'They have this new word called affordability'
Fri Nov 7, 2025, 10:59 AM
Nov 7

After Democrats scored election victories, the president started talking about “affordability.” Unfortunately, his assessment is rooted in nonsense.

📰 MSNBC
Trump makes an overdue discovery: 'They have this new word called affordability'

⟶ MSNBC | headline in context

The 🇺🇸 Headline Bot (@us-headlines.bsky.social) 2025-11-06T18:44:29.514Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-makes-overdue-discovery-new-word-called-affordability-rcna242345

Donald Trump spent years publishing assorted messages to the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, but he literally never wrote a tweet that included the word “affordability.”....

The day after Democratic election victories, Trump assured the public, “Affordability is our goal.” That was followed by a related online rant: “2025 Thanksgiving dinner under Trump is 25% lower than 2024 Thanksgiving dinner under Biden, according to Walmart. My cost [sic] are lower than the Democrats on everything, especially oil and gas! So the Democrats [sic] ‘affordability’ issue is DEAD! STOP LYING!!!”

Whether the president understands this or not, Walmart lowered the cost of its Thanksgiving dinner by reducing the number of items included in the package and replacing brand-name products with value products. It was not, in other words, the result of the White House’s awesomeness.

As for the idea that the underlying issue is “dead,” the president seems to know better. Consider his exchange with Bret Baier during the Republican’s Fox News interview Wednesday night.




.......By Trump’s reasoning, GOP officials and candidates have struggled because they haven’t talked about the cost-of-living challenges facing American consumers. That might make him feel better, but the underlying issue isn’t rhetorical, it’s practical.

Republicans can use “this new word” all the time and it won’t change the fact the party, with total control over federal policymaking, has failed spectacularly to address one of the key issues that elevated them to power in the first place.

Democrats scored election victories, not by mentioning “affordability,” but by shining a light on the GOP’s substantive failures on the issue and offering an alternative.

The longer Trump fails to understand this, the more often he and his party will suffer political and electoral consequences.
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