President Donald Trump is perfectly happy with the state of the U.S. economy under his watch, even as ordinary Americans grow increasingly frustrated by the high cost of living.

When asked how he would rate his performance on the economy in an interview with Politico’s Dasha Burns on Monday, Trump responded: “A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus.”

When Burns mentioned a Trump supporter she spoke to who told her she was worried about the economy and felt like not enough was being done to lower prices, the president didn’t seem to empathize with her.

“The thing you have to understand is the word affordability… I inherited a disaster. I inherited a total disaster. Prices were at an all-time high when I came in. Prices are coming down substantially,” Trump said. “All the prices are going down. It’s been 10 months. It’s amazing what we’ve done.”

President Donald Trump listens during a roundtable discussion on farm subsidies in the Cabinet Room of the White House on Monday in Washington.
President Donald Trump listens during a roundtable discussion on farm subsidies in the Cabinet Room of the White House on Monday in Washington.

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) reacted to Trump’s self-assessment during an interview with CNN’s “The Source.”

“If this is an A plus-plus-plus economy, God help us if we ever get to a B or a C,” Sanders said.

“I have to admit, to his billionaire friends, he is, in fact, an outstanding president,” Sanders continued.

Trump held a rally Tuesday in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, in a swing district he won by about 9 percentage points in the 2024 election, according to CNN, to promote his economic record. The event was part of a White House strategy to take control of the issue, as Republicans worry it could define the 2026 midterm elections.

“I have no higher priority than making America affordable again. That’s what we’re going to do,” Trump said.

Despite Trump’s claims that affordability concerns are a Democratic-led “scam,” he appeared to admit that “prices are too high” right now. But instead of accepting responsibility for the effect his policies, including his trade war, have had on prices 10 months into his second presidency, he still blamed Democrats.

The prices are “too high because [Democrats] made them too high, but now they are going down,” Trump said.

Americans are pessimistic about the economy, polls show. A News political poll released last month showed that 76% of voters have a negative view of the economy, while 61% disapprove of Trump’s handling of the issue.

Democratic candidates who focused their campaigns on the cost of living did well in last month’s elections, issuing a new warning to the Trump administration.