President Trump's Affordability Tour Is Rebuilding the American Dream

President Donald J. Trump is doing what no modern president has had the courage or the clarity to do. He is taking his case directly to the American people, city by city, community by community, kitchen table by kitchen table. His Affordability Tour is not a campaign gimmick. It is not a political stunt. It is a national wake-up call that finally puts the economic struggles of working families where they belong, at the absolute center of American policy.

While Washington elites worry about protecting illegal immigrates criminals and drug cartels, President Trump is traveling the heartland meeting the families who feel the pain every time they open their utility bill and every time they buy a week's worth of groceries. He knows the truth. Prices are still up. Families are still squeezed. And every dollar still buys less than it did because Biden administration's catastrophic leadership wrecked the strongest economy in modern history that he built. That is the real State of the Union and President Trump is the only leader willing to speak to it plainly.

At every stop President Trump is putting real data behind the real pain Americans feel. Grocery prices are still up more than twenty percent because of the former administration. Electricity bills are up nearly thirty percent. Rent has skyrocketed across the country with many young couples forced to delay marriage or children because they cannot afford a starter home. Mortgage rates exploded from under three percent during President Trump's earlier term to levels not seen in over two decades.

The Affordability Tour is not just to expose the problem it is laying out the solution. President Trump built the greatest economy the world had ever seen before the Biden administration crippled it. He knows exactly how to restore it. He reminds audiences how during his presidency real wages rose for the first time in years how household incomes hit record highs and how inflation averaged less than two percent. He reminds us of the tax cuts that put thousands of dollars back into the pockets of working families and the regulatory cuts that unleashed small business growth at levels economists said were impossible. He reminds Americans that we were energy independent something Biden ended by shutting down pipelines and putting politics above prosperity.

We are seeing important signs of improvement that reinforces President Trump's message. The federal budget deficit narrowed to $173 billion in November, beating the $186.5 billion forecast and coming in dramatically lower than the $284 billion shortfall in October. This happened because government outlays fell, revenues hit a record for the month, and tariff collections increased. In other words, when Washington slows the spending spree and embraces policies that actually strengthen the economy, the numbers begin to turn in the right direction. This shift highlights exactly what President Trump is saying on the Affordability Tour. Fiscal responsibility is possible. Real growth is possible. And America can climb out of the fiscal hole the former administration left behind, but only with strong, disciplined leadership at the top

These are the reasons every stop on this tour will be a step in revival of the American spirit. President Trump is reminding the country that affordability is not a luxury. It is a promise. The promise that in the United States of America a paycheck should mean security not anxiety. A trip to the store should mean filling your cart not picking and choosing based on what you can no longer afford. A future for your children should mean limitless opportunity not tighter budgets and lowered expectations.

And President Trump is offering more than words. He is offering a proven plan. He is calling for unleashing American energy to lower gas and utility prices. Gas prices are already falling nationwide to as low as 1.99 a gallon in several regions. The President's Big Beautiful Bill provided for middle class tax cuts to boost take home pay. He is slashing job killing regulations and restoring the Trump era economic engine that produced the lowest unemployment rate for African Americans Hispanics women and veterans ever recorded. He is calling for rebuilding supply chains, so Americans are never again dependent on foreign adversaries for groceries goods or medicine. He is calling for restoring fiscal sanity so our children are not left with the crushing burden of Washington's reckless spending. President Trump is bringing back the American Dream with real freedoms not the Big Government socialist nightmare pushed by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren where Washington controls your paycheck your healthcare your business your energy and ultimately your life.

As an Alabamian I am proud to stand with a president who understands the real lives of real people in states like ours. President Trump has always fought for the working men and women who make this nation run. He is fighting for our farmers our manufacturers and our small business owners and our families. He is fighting for them again today. The Affordability Tour proves that he is not just running to win an election.

When President Donald J. Trump speaks America listens because we know he delivers. As President Trump reminds us, "We are going to restore the American Dream for every family in this country, and we are going to do it faster than anyone believes possible."

Mr. President thank you for fighting for every American family. Thank you for putting affordability and prosperity back at the center of our national agenda. Thank you for reminding us that America's best days are not behind us. They are just ahead with you in the White House.

Perry O. Hooper Jr. is a former state representative, the 2016 Trump Victory Chair, a current member of the Alabama Republican State Executive Committee, and a widely published political columnist.

Opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Alabama Gazette staff or publishers.