President Trump will soon roll out a series of actions designed to boost the economy and address Americans’ concerns about affordability.
He promised the new action in a speech Tuesday to the Detroit Economic Club, making it clear he understands the midterm elections are about affordability.
“In the coming weeks, I will be laying out even more plans to help bring back affordability,” Mr. Trump said, blaming Democrats for the high prices.
Until recently, Mr. Trump had dismissed Democrats’ focus on affordability as a hoax. Over the past few weeks, however, he has made the issue a top priority, floating several ideas to lower the cost of living for Americans.
In the hour-long speech in Detroit, the president said a few of the ideas that will be announced soon, though he offered few specifics.
Mr. Trump said he plans to announce his healthcare proposal this week to lower Americans’ medical expenses. His goal is to have money sent directly to consumers to purchase health insurance rather than have money sent to insurers.
SEE ALSO: Inflation rose 2.7% on an annual basis in December report that shows stabilizing prices
The upcoming proposal comes as subsidies for those covered under the Affordable Care Act expired last year, sending their healthcare costs soaring.
Mr. Trump also underscored his agreement with drug manufacturers to lower the cost of prescription drugs in the U.S. by having them sell the medicines in America at the much lower prices overseas, known as most-favored-nation pricing.
He said Republicans should carry the midterm elections just based on the drug pricing agreement alone.
“We should win the midterms in a landslide,” Mr. Trump told the crowd.
He also said that he will unveil more ideas to reduce the cost of housing at the World Economic Forum next week in Davos, Switzerland.
The housing proposals so far include barring large investors from buying single-family homes and directing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy $200 million in mortgage bonds to lower rates for home buyers.
SEE ALSO: Average price of new car, average ‘asking price’ both reached record highs in December
“We have some great things happening with housing,” Mr. Trump said.
He also previewed his plan to cap credit card interest rates at 10% for one year, saying rates are getting as high as 30%, a move he called unfair.
The speech comes hours after the federal government released the latest inflation numbers for December.
Prices rose 2.7% for the year ending in December, which was in line with economists’ predictions and unchanged from November.
The Consumer Price Index increased 0.3% for December, fueled by an increase in shelter costs. Prices for food and energy also increased, but the cost of used cars and fuel oil decreased.
Mr. Trump insisted his tariff and energy policies have strengthened the economy and revived U.S. manufacturing, especially in the auto industry.
“It’s an election about high prices that was caused by the Democrats and I brought that down a lot,” Mr. Trump said.
Pivoting to tariffs, Mr. Trump said they’ve reduced the deficit, boosted retirement accounts and spurred a rebirth of American manufacturing. He chastised economists who predicted an economic depression.
“One of the biggest reasons for this unbelievable success has been our historic use of tariffs,” Mr. Trump said.
• Tom Howell Jr. contributed to this report.
