Donald Trump’s top economic adviser suggested this weekend that the president has little reason to believe the economy is struggling — because he’s shown data that highlights only the administration’s wins.
National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett was pressed on CBS’ Face the Nation about Trump’s repeated claim that “prices are coming down tremendously,” a line he used again at a rally in Pennsylvania. Hassett told anchor Margaret Brennan that the president tends to focus on areas “we have already made progress on.”
Brennan pushed back, noting that shoppers are still feeling costs in real time. She pointed to inflation metrics showing the consumer price index up 3 percent year over year, and the personal consumption index up 2.8 percent — then asked directly what data Trump was relying on and what benchmark he was using.
Hassett said that during the Pennsylvania appearance, Trump displayed charts — something he “loves to do” — and walked through select categories where his team says conditions have improved. Hassett offered examples: he claimed prescription drug prices rose 9 percent under Joe Biden but are down six-tenths of a percent so far this year; he also cited gasoline prices and even pointed to eggs as another item Trump referenced.
To many CBS viewers, Hassett’s explanation sounded less like an answer and more like an admission: Trump’s economic talking points are built from a curated slice of the data, not the broader picture consumers experience.
Attorney Ron Filipkowski, who switched from the Republican party to the Democrats following the Jan. 6 capitol riots, reacted on X by calling it “a familiar pattern.” He argued that Trump’s allies cherry-pick good news because they’re afraid to deliver bad news — and that it feeds what he described as Trump’s tendency to misrepresent reality.
The moment also follows Trump’s recent Politico interview with journalist Dasha Burns, in which he was asked what “grade” he’d give himself for managing the economy. Trump didn’t hesitate: “A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus,” he said, answering before the question was even finished.
