Mr. Trump's economic long game

To many Americans, affordability doesn’t seem like a “hoax.” Rising stock portfolios are little consolation to those who find themselves locked out of the housing market and struggling to make the next rent payment. The president is betting this will soon change.

Gas prices are down slightly, and supermarket sticker shock is easing. According to Agriculture Department economists, “In 2026, overall food prices are expected to increase more slowly than the historical average rate of growth.”

That won’t soothe nerves rattled by the prospect that artificial intelligence is coming for their jobs. ADP’s most recent employment report shows the private sector cut 32,000 jobs in the second half of the year. The Federal Reserve says there has been a 5% dip in the number of hiring notices posted on Indeed, the online jobs board.

Donald Trump is fighting back against the perception. “The Democrats love to say, ‘Affordability, affordability,’ but then they never talk about it. They’re the ones that gave us the high prices. I’m the one that’s bringing them down,” the president said in an interview with Politico on Tuesday.

The long-term outlook is bright as the administration continues to strong-arm foreign countries into investing trillions of dollars in the United States. “America First” policies are luring domestic manufacturers to return, leading to more abundant work opportunities.

Mr. Trump mentioned the semiconductor manufacturers who sought more favorable business conditions overseas under previous administrations. “We could’ve kept the chip market. We had 100% of the chip market, Intel, all of these guys,” he said.

During his first term, TSMC, the Taiwan-based maker of the latest computer chips, agreed to build a factory in Arizona. Production at the new facility ramped up last year, with a second, high-tech fabrication plant scheduled to open in 2028. A third is planned a few years after that.

That’s the payoff from a $165 billion investment. It will bring 6,000 jobs and create critical parts supporting U.S. companies that make cellphones, cars and anything else with smart features.

Affordable power is a huge selling point. The expense of running a factory on our shores is, on average, half what Europeans pay because the continent has yet to drop its foolhardy obsession with medieval windmills and solar panels that go dark when a cloud is overhead.

Mr. Trump has canceled the Green New Deal projects leftover from his predecessor. His energy secretary, Chris Wright, says, “Drill, baby, drill,” and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy declared “the end of the EV madness.”

With the left’s crazy climate grift in full retreat here, it will be cheaper to assemble and transport goods. Consumers will be able to heat homes in the winter and cool them in the summer without applying for a loan.

Mr. Trump’s keen business sense realizes these are the metrics that matter, not the lingering turbulence from Democratic misrule. The problem with this strategy is that Americans aren’t going to believe the “Golden Age” has begun until they feel their pockets getting heavier.

The indicators just aren’t improving swiftly enough, and the public is telling pollsters that it will take out its frustration on the Republican Congress in the midterms. The president and his allies need to acknowledge that good times mean more than just prosperity on Wall Street.

More careful messaging and a few short-term wins would help boost morale as the election season nears.