The ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ economy

Today, Explained

Vox

News, Daily News, Politics

4.4 • 9.5K Ratings

🗓️ 11 December 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Trump calls the idea of “affordability” a hoax. Nonetheless, he pressured the Fed to fix it. It's just one example of Trump prizing loyalty over economic expertise. This episode was produced by Miles Bryan and Dustin DeSoto, edited by Jolie Myers, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Patrick Boyd, and hosted by Noel King. President Donald Trump during an event on inflation in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania. Photographer: Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images. This show was supported by a grant from Arnold Ventures. Vox had full discretion over the content of this reporting. Listen to Today, Explained ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. New Vox members get $20 off their membership right now. Transcript at ⁠vox.com/today-explained-podcast.⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	President Trump has taken flack recently for not appearing to get that Americans think life is too expensive.
0:07.7	At a rally in Pennsylvania on Tuesday that was supposed to be about the economy, he made fun of Joe Biden.
0:13.8	What state is it? It's Pennsylvania. Oh.
0:17.6	He ranted about immigration. He reminisist. He returned to old chestnuts.
0:22.6	You don't need $37 for your daughter.
0:24.6	Two or three is nice.
0:26.6	But he offered little in the way of acknowledgment.
0:28.6	They say affordability.
0:31.6	And everyone says, oh, that must mean Trump has high prices.
0:35.6	No, our prices are coming down tremendously.
0:39.8	When he's not denying the problem, Trump is often pinning the blame on his favorite target, the Federal Reserve, for not cutting interest rates.
0:47.3	Trump has always dismissed technocrats.
0:49.9	In his second term, he's relying more on instincts than experts, and it is starting to damage his presidency.
0:56.8	That's coming up on Today Explained.
0:59.8	When a U.S. boat strike prompts questions about war crimes, what does that mean for U.S. foreign policy and the rules guiding use of force?
1:07.8	Have we just started a new forever war that has no limitation, no genuine logic to it?
1:16.1	I'm John Feiner. And I'm Jake Sullivan, and we're the hosts of The Long Game, a weekly national
1:21.4	security podcast. This week, we break down the latest on Venezuela and the reported second boat strike
1:27.4	on survivors.
1:28.5	The episode is now out. Search for and follow the long game wherever you get your podcasts.
1:36.2	This week on the gray area, how different is gooning from compulsively watching YouTube
1:42.5	videos or TikTok reels or binging shows on Netflix.
	...

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