President Trump snapped “I don’t want to hear about the affordability!” during a White House Q&A Thursday, instantly turning the phrase into a viral soundbite that critics called a “Let them eat cake” moment.
Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich this week pressed him on a judge’s order to restore full SNAP benefits amid soaring grocery costs; Trump countered with a rambling claim that Walmart’s 2025 Thanksgiving basket is “25% cheaper” and prices are “way down.”
The pushback began Wednesday on Bret Baier’s Special Report. Baier played a plea from “Regina,” a three-time Trump voter: “Wall Street numbers do not reflect my Main Street money… Please do something, President Trump.”
Trump blamed Republicans for not using the “new word” affordability often enough while insisting groceries and energy are already lower.
Fox’s own data undercut him: coffee +19%, utilities +12%, electricity +5%, car repairs +11.5% since January. Seven in ten Americans tell pollsters groceries cost more than last year; 60% blame Trump.The timing stings.
Democrats swept Tuesday’s off-year races—Zohran Mamdani in NYC, Abigail Spanberger in Virginia, Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey—by hammering “affordability.” Exit polls showed even economy-first voters broke blue.
Trump now floods Truth Social with “AFFORDABILITY IS A REPUBLICAN STRONGHOLD” posts and touts a smaller, generic-heavy Walmart basket as proof. Critics pounce: the 2025 bundle has 15 items vs. 21 last year.
Even the Murdoch-owned New York Post scolded: “Prices aren’t going down… and probably never will.”
Meanwhile, The Justice Department has launched an investigation into meatpacking companies and whether they are colluding to drive up beef prices, the latest review of an industry that competition regulators have scrutinized in recent years.
“Action must be taken immediately to protect Consumers, combat Illegal Monopolies, and ensure these Corporations are not criminally profiting at the expense of the American People,” President Trump said in a post Friday on Truth Social.
The Justice Department’s antitrust division is leading the probe in partnership with the Agriculture Department, Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post on X.