Democrats are sticking to their skepticism about President Donald Trump’s performance on the economy, blasting the country’s “unaffordability” even as the reporting from January exceeded expectations on inflation and the job market.
January’s inflation report, released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, showed just a 2.5% increase in prices over last year — a number that inches the economy closer to the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%.
Similarly, the U.S. jobs report for last month showed that the economy added 130,000 jobs, beating out projections from forecasters like Reuters, Oxford University and Bloomberg.
Many predictions had estimated the U.S. would add just 50,000 to 75,000 in January.
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The reports are the latest in a series of reports during the second Trump administration that have defied Democratic predictions of persistent inflation and economic downturn amid the implementation of GOP policies that Democrats oppose, such as Trump’s tariffs and a more aggressive focus on domestic production.
But to Democrats like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., the top Democrat on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Development Committee, the numbers don’t make good on the promises Trump made on the campaign trail.
“Donald Trump promised to lower costs ‘on day one.’ But one year into his second term, food continues to get more expensive, utility costs are soaring, and housing prices are rising,” Warren said in a statement on the inflation report.
“Trump is making life less affordable for American families – and instead of fixing the economic pain he’s caused, he says this is the Trump economy, and he is ‘very proud’ of it,” she said.
Among the policies Democrats believe are contributing to high prices, Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., the ranking member on the House Budget Committee, singled out Trump’s position on tariffs in his own statement about the price index.
“Donald Trump promised he would end inflation on ‘day one.’ Today is Day 389, and prices are higher than ever,” Boyle said.
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“Instead of keeping his promise, Trump has increased the costs Americans pay through his massive tariff taxes — the highest tariffs since the Great Depression. Ordinary Americans simply can’t afford Trump’s reckless economic policies,” he said.
The criticisms from Boyle and Warren aren’t new. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., blasted the administration on affordability even ahead of the reporting on inflation.
“Costs haven’t gone down in the United States of America. Costs have gone up under failed Republican policies. Housing costs are out of control. Grocery costs are out of control. Healthcare costs are out of control. Utility bills are out of control. And childcare costs are out of control,” Jeffries said in a press conference last week.
Other Democrats believe the numbers themselves may come with an asterisk.
Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, said he thinks the jobs report, in particular, doesn’t signal a strong market on its own.
“Beating expectations once doesn’t absolve the pain of the meager monthly average of 15,000 jobs created last year,” Neal said in a statement about the labor report.
“The fine print of this report, which shows significant downward revisions of Trump’s first year in office, casts strong doubt that people can rely on this administration to deliver for them,” Neal said, referring to other disappointing jobs reports from 2025.
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Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, believes Republicans are showing signs of nervousness about the economy.
She believes that Trump has already tacitly admitted that affordability remains an issue for Americans.
“Trump called this affordability crisis a ‘hoax,’ but he knows it’s real and now wants to cap credit card interest rates at 10%,” Waters said, referring to an idea floated by Trump earlier this year to limit the amount banks can charge borrowers.
“Well, President Trump, I’m pleased to know if you’re listening, we don’t agree on much of anything, but we do on this,” Waters said.
Democrats contacted by Fox News Digital did not address whether the numbers from the January reporting indicated the country was on the right track, despite their other outstanding concerns.
