House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) defended his party’s economic message in a pointed exchange with Fox News host Shannon Bream, pushing back on claims that President Donald Trump’s tariff policy has strengthened the U.S. economy.
During the interview on Fox News Sunday, Bream opened by citing an analysis from Fortune showing that higher tariffs have generated more than $236 billion in revenue and coincided with a narrowing trade deficit. She pressed Jeffries on whether slashing the deficit in half is, at minimum, a positive development for Americans.
Jeffries rejected that framing. He argued the trade deficit has not been “meaningfully closed” and said the more immediate reality is that farmers, small businesses, and consumers are absorbing higher costs. Tariffs, he contended, have translated into thousands of dollars in additional annual expenses for working- and middle-class families, all while failing to deliver the promised resurgence in domestic manufacturing jobs.
Bream countered by pointing to macroeconomic indicators trending in a more favorable direction: inflation down sharply from its peak, wage growth outpacing price increases, cooling rent, lower gas prices, and improved consumer sentiment. She also noted that inflation surged to roughly 9 percent during the Biden administration—levels not seen in decades—and argued that unwinding that spike would not happen overnight.
However, what Bream did not fully acknowledge is that while inflation did peak near 9 percent amid global supply chain disruptions tied to the COVID-19 pandemic, it steadily declined through 2023 and 2024 and was approaching the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target by the time Trump took office again in early 2025. The disinflation trend was already well underway before the current tariff regime took shape.
Jeffries On The Affordability Crisis: ‘It’s Not A Hoax, It’s Very Real, And It’s Impacting People All Throughout The Land’
Jeffries sidestepped backward-looking debates and instead focused on present conditions. He emphasized that Trump himself set the benchmark, repeatedly promising costs would fall “on day one.” By that measure, Jeffries argued, the administration has fallen short. Housing, groceries, utilities, health care, and child care, he said, remain unaffordable for millions of everyday Americans.
He also cited Fox News polling showing broad dissatisfaction, with about 70 percent of the American people believing that the economy is not moving in the right direction, making it clear that concerns about affordability transcend party lines. “This is not Democrats or Republicans,” Jeffries said in essence. “These are Americans.”
