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chairman donald trump is set to First appearance in a series of public appearances The White House says it aims to address voters’ growing concerns prices on Tuesday, but he’s already having trouble answering questions on the topic.
He rejected a Politico reporter’s attempt to press him on how Americans should react Imminent increase in health insurance premiums – They’re trying to do holiday shopping and budget planning for 2026 just as Obamacare subsidies are expiring.
When reporter Dasha Burns pressed him in an interview published Tuesday on whether he would support a temporary expansion of COVID-era tax credits for consumers, Trump was initially reluctant. who purchase health insurance on the Affordable Care Act exchanges, “I don’t know,” she told him, and pointed to her recent proposal to replace subsidies with direct payments, aimed at helping Americans “buy much better.” Health care,
But when Burns began to ask him about the financial strain facing Americans due to steep increases in health care costs this holiday season, the president cut her off.
“Look, don’t be dramatic,” he said dismissively.
When asked directly whether Americans’ health care premiums would increase when Obamacare subsidies expire at the end of the year, Trump responded: “I want to give… I’m giving them money. I want to give people money to buy their health care. That’s a good thing, not a bad thing.”
The president reiterated his recent claim that Democrats are against his idea of direct payments because they “want insurance companies to keep making money” and once again stressed that he wants the same funds to be used to expand tax credits “to go out to people and get people to go out and buy their health care.”
But individuals have no way to purchase less expensive health care coverage on their own because the structure of the American health care system requires pooling of risk through insurance, whether achieved through employer-based coverage or through exchange marketplaces such as those established by the 2010 health care reform law that the GOP has spent years trying to undo without offering a viable alternative.
When Burns told him that without intervention “premiums would probably go up”, Trump simply stammered in response: “Uh, OK…”
“If you did what I want you to do, your premiums could go down. I want to give away the money,” he said, though he did not explain how paying Americans directly to buy insurance would reduce premiums outside the structure of reducing premiums by sharing the cost among a larger group of consumers.
The president’s failure to offer a viable plan to reduce health care costs beyond his vague proposal for direct payments comes as his administration struggles to convince voters that he has delivered on promises to lower the cost of living.
Trump’s victory in last year’s presidential election was largely due to voters’ belief that he would do a better job of reducing costs than his Democratic opponent, former Vice President Kamala Harris.
But since taking office the president has imposed massive tariffs on imports from most of America’s trading partners, while making baseless claims that tariffs – which are import taxes paid by American companies and passed on to consumers at higher prices – are paid by foreign governments.
Opinion polls have shown consistent dissatisfaction with their administrations’ economic records in recent months, and voters who chose gubernatorial candidates in New Jersey and Virginia last month did so because those candidates made affordability a centerpiece of their respective campaigns.
At the same time, Trump has dismissed voters’ concerns about affordability as a “Democratic scam” and a “hoax.”
Asked to defend his record on the economy, Trump told Burns that he has “made a fortune for the United States” since returning to power, which he claims has led to “trillions” in foreign investment, much of it from authoritarian states such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
When asked what grade he would give himself, he replied: “A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus.”