fixing Biden’s affordability crisis: Largest tax cut, Lowest, lower drug costs, mortgage down $3K

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt delivered a comprehensive affordability briefing, directly addressing media narratives that Trump wasn’t focused on affordability. Leavitt noted the irony: the same Democrats who helped Biden drive inflation to 9% and then shut down the government are now positioning themselves as affordability champions — an “absurd” framework. She laid out Trump administration achievements on affordability: the largest middle-class tax cut in American history (including no tax on tips, overtime, and Social Security), gasoline prices at five-year lows via unleashed American energy dominance, multiple pharmaceutical deals to lower drug prices, 30 regulations cut for every new one added (saving small businesses thousands), wages rising at the fastest pace of a presidential administration in 60 years, and mortgages on new homes down $3,000 per year. Leavitt’s framework: Trump made historic progress in less than 10 months cleaning up Biden’s economic disaster, with more to come. Leavitt: “The notion that the same Democrats who just shut down the federal government to sabotage our economy rob people of their paychecks and also helped Joe Biden ratchet up inflation to 9% are now suddenly affordability champions. That notion is completely absurd.” On wages: “Wages are rising at the fastest pace of the start of a presidential administration in 60 years.” On mortgages: “The cost of the typical new mortgage is down by nearly $3,000 per year.”

Setting Context

Press Secretary Leavitt opened by addressing media narratives. “I want to address the affordability issue that’s received a great deal of media attention this past week, which is ironic because it didn’t receive that much attention when Joe Biden was here and inflation was at a record high 9% the worst inflation crisis in modern American history.”

The media focus on affordability became prominent in late 2025. Trump’s opponents — including some Democratic governors and congressional members — argued Trump wasn’t focused on affordability. Leavitt’s counter-framework: the media ignored affordability when Biden was causing it and are now hyping it when Trump is fixing it.

Actual Biden-era inflation peaked at 9.1% in June 2022 — the highest since 1981. Biden’s four years averaged approximately 5% inflation.

Trump’s Mandate

“And President Trump won a landslide election in part to address the affordability issues created by Joe Biden and the Democrats. And that’s exactly what President Trump has done since day one of his administration.”

Leavitt’s framework: Trump’s 2024 election victory (popular vote plus all seven swing states) was substantially about affordability. Voters elected Trump to fix Biden’s inflation crisis.

“It’s the first day in office and every day since the Trump administration has taken aggressive action to fix the Biden created cost of living issues.”

From day one: executive orders on energy (reversing Biden restrictions), immigration (border enforcement reducing job competition), regulatory reform (reducing business costs), and eventually legislative wins (OBBB).

Shutdown Hypocrisy

“The notion that the same Democrats who just shut down the federal government to sabotage our economy rob people of their paychecks and also helped Joe Biden ratchet up inflation to 9% are now suddenly affordability champions. That notion is completely absurd.”

The specific framing: Democrats who just:

Shut down government for 37+ days
Blocked paychecks for federal workers
Disrupted air travel
Interrupted SNAP benefits for 40 million Americans

…are now claiming to be affordability champions. The shutdown itself was a massive anti-affordability act.

“And it’s something only the liberal media would have the gall to push.”

Leavitt’s charge: only media allies of Democrats would even attempt this framing. The actual record contradicts it.

Administration Record

“But the reality is that President Trump and his administration have done so much to lower prices and increase the economic prosperity of the American people and this president and his team of amazing economic advisors are going to keep working on this issue every single day.”

The economic team:

Scott Bessent (Treasury)
Jamieson Greer (USTR)
Howard Lutnick (Commerce)
Sergey Gor (prior CPO, now India ambassador)
Multiple agency heads

Largest Tax Cut

“In less than 10 short months, President Trump signed the largest middle class tax cuts in American history, including no tax on tips, overtime and social security, which will guarantee that next year Americans are going to put more money back into their pockets.”

The OBBB Act signed July 4, 2025:

Permanent extension of 2017 tax rates
No tax on tips (service industry)
No tax on overtime (hourly workers)
No tax on Social Security (retirees)
Standard deduction increases
SALT cap modifications with income limits
Car loan interest deduction (new)

“Next year” = 2026 tax year. Americans will feel the full effect when filing 2026 returns.

Energy Dominance

“The president has completely unleashed American energy dominance to help bring gasoline prices to the lowest in five years and we expect them to continue to decrease.”

Gasoline at five-year lows. Achieved through:

Reversed Biden-era drilling restrictions
Approved Keystone and other infrastructure
Removed EV mandates
LNG export expansion
Strategic Petroleum Reserve management

“And it has also lowered energy costs overall.”

Broader energy cost reductions:

Natural gas prices
Electricity prices
Heating oil
Industrial energy costs

Continuing Work

“There is more work to do. But again, the president’s deregulatory and pro-American energy agenda is absolutely going to continue to drive down prices.”

Leavitt acknowledged ongoing work. The administration isn’t claiming affordability solved — it’s claiming substantial progress with continuing effort.

“This formula worked in the president’s first term and we expect that it’s going to work again.”

First term: Trump reduced gasoline prices, stabilized inflation, saw wage growth. Second term applying the same formula.

”Number One Driver”

“And this is key because we know energy costs are the number one driver of inflation. Again, just look at what Joe Biden did to our energy industry over the past four years of his administration and look at what happened to inflation as a result. Everything became more expensive.”

Leavitt’s economic framework: energy drives inflation. Biden crushed domestic energy production → inflation spiked across all categories (transportation costs, heating, industrial production, food). Trump unleashed energy production → inflation falling.

The mechanism is correct economically:

Energy costs affect transportation (food, manufactured goods)
Energy costs affect agriculture (fuel, fertilizer)
Energy costs affect services (heating, cooling, electricity)
Energy costs affect production (all manufacturing)

Cheap energy = cheap everything. Expensive energy = expensive everything.

Prescription Drugs

“To lower prescription drug prices and health care costs, the president has been working around the clock on this issue. He is obsessed with negotiating these good deals on behalf of the American people to bring down pharmaceutical costs and drug costs for Americans.”

The drug deals this year:

Eli Lilly GLP-1 (Zepbound $1,080 → $346)
Novo Nordisk GLP-1 (Wegovy $1,350 → $250 eventually)
Oral GLP-1 (capped $149 future)
Multiple other pharmaceutical agreements

“And he has done so on a number of fronts. You have seen him discuss that in the Oval Office several times.”

Trump has made pharmaceutical pricing announcements from the Oval Office throughout 2025. Each announcement addresses different drugs, companies, and pricing structures.

Small Business Deregulation

“To fuel small businesses, lower their costs in incentivized hiring, the Trump administration has already cut 30 unnecessary regulations for every new one on the books, which we know will save employers and small businesses across the country thousands of dollars in regulatory burdens.”

30:1 regulation cut ratio is dramatic. Trump’s first term required 2-for-1 cuts (2 regulations removed for each new one). Second term expanded to 30:1.

The savings matter:

Small businesses spend ~$12,000 per employee on regulatory compliance
Reducing regulations reduces this burden
Saved resources flow to wages, expansion, investment
Lower costs → lower consumer prices

Wages Rising

“All of these pro-Trump policies are working and they will continue to work. Wages are rising at the fastest pace of the start of a presidential administration in 60 years.”

60 years = since 1965. The last time wages rose this fast at a presidential administration start:

Kennedy/Johnson era
Pre-productivity slowdown
Pre-wage stagnation
Pre-globalization

Trump’s wage growth represents reversal of long-term trends.

Mortgage Savings

“The cost of the typical new mortgage is down by nearly $3,000 per year.”

Mortgage savings from:

Lower interest rates (Fed and market-driven)
Stabilizing home prices
Improved affordability overall
Increased housing supply

$3,000/year = $250/month savings on typical mortgage. For a family, that’s substantial monthly cash flow.

”Much Work to Do”

“There’s much work to do and this administration will continue to do it. The president has already made great progress in cleaning up the economic disaster that was created by Joe Biden.”

Leavitt’s closing framework:

Not claiming economic perfection
Acknowledging continuing work
Framing as cleaning up Biden’s disaster
Substantial progress already

Significance

The briefing was comprehensive — systematic rebuttal of Democratic “Trump not focused on affordability” narrative. Leavitt enumerated specific achievements with specific numbers:

9% inflation (Biden) → 2.5% (Trump)
Tax cut enacted July 4
Gas prices five-year lows
Wages fastest growth in 60 years
Mortgages down $3K/year
30:1 regulation cuts
Multiple drug deals

The political context: polling had shifted toward Republicans through shutdown fight. Democrats’ response: pivot to affordability attacks. Leavitt’s counter: list accomplishments with specific metrics.

The hypocrisy framing is powerful. Democrats claiming to be affordability champions after shutting down government for 37+ days is vulnerable to immediate counter-attack. Leavitt weaponized the shutdown as affordability violation.

The 60-year wage growth framing is the strongest single metric. It contextualizes Trump’s economic program as historically significant. Not just better than Biden — better than almost any recent period.

Key Takeaways

Leavitt on Democratic hypocrisy: “The notion that the same Democrats who just shut down the federal government to sabotage our economy rob people of their paychecks and also helped Joe Biden ratchet up inflation to 9% are now suddenly affordability champions. That notion is completely absurd. And it’s something only the liberal media would have the gall to push.”
Leavitt on tax cuts: “In less than 10 short months, President Trump signed the largest middle class tax cuts in American history, including no tax on tips, overtime and social security, which will guarantee that next year Americans are going to put more money back into their pockets.”
Leavitt on energy: “The president has completely unleashed American energy dominance to help bring gasoline prices to the lowest in five years … energy costs are the number one driver of inflation.”
Leavitt on deregulation: “The Trump administration has already cut 30 unnecessary regulations for every new one on the books, which we know will save employers and small businesses across the country thousands of dollars in regulatory burdens.”
Leavitt on wages and mortgages: “Wages are rising at the fastest pace of the start of a presidential administration in 60 years. The cost of the typical new mortgage is down by nearly $3,000 per year.”