The 2026 midterm elections are dead ahead, and suddenly everybody seems convinced that the outcome will be driven by “affordability.”

We’re told that only an absolute dunce would fail to acknowledge that affordability is the most important matter of our times. And so, right on cue, Donald Trump kicked off his midterm campaigning by calling affordability a “hoax.”

He’s wrong, of course — at least if you take him literally. It’s not a hoax. But it’s also nothing new. Voters’ choices are always heavily influenced by kitchen table issues. James Carville’s “It’s the economy, stupid” slogan propelled Bill Clinton into the White House in 1992, and the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races just last November were both won handily by Democrats talking up affordability.

Hoax or not, Trump knows a political sand trap when he sees one. How curious that Democrats never saw fit to express concerns about affordability during the years when Joe Biden’s administration was crushing it with double-digit inflation caused by pouring trillions into an already heated post-COVID economy. No matter — Biden is gone now, and Trump owns the U.S. economy, good or bad.

But just what is “affordability”? As important as it supposedly is, there is evidently some confusion about what it is and how to measure it. Currently, the media tends to conflate it with the broader American economy, but that misses the fundamental concerns. By and large, Americans are not terribly worried about the steady barrage of economic data and charts from Wall Street or the daily swings in the stock market. It’s the trip to the supermarket that sets off alarm bells.

As it turns out, current polls indicate that the general public is not particularly happy with the Trump economy. The 2024 voters knew the economy was in the tank and hired businessman Donald Trump to fix it. Candidate Trump grandly promised that the horribly inflated prices of everything (particularly groceries) would soon be going back down — and in a few cases they did — but that was a foolish promise. Economically, the hard work of reining in inflation prevents prices from rising further, and a healthier, more robust economy (effective employment, wages, energy, transportation) makes goods and services affordable once again. Yet many of the higher prices are baked in and here to stay.

On affordability, Trump’s challenge — and political opportunity — is twofold: (1) continue to move our economy to the “golden age” he’s envisioned, and (2) give the public (and for now, the 2026 midterm voters) tangible, understandable evidence that we are headed in the right economic direction, and that affordability has improved markedly.

President Trump rarely has a problem convincing his diehard supporters of anything, but reaching the skeptics, even those with open minds, is another matter entirely. His habit of promising the world and making exaggerated, easily rebutted claims invites distrust, not support.

For that reason, he should approach the affordability issue in a very different way. I’m thinking his opening salvo should be an address to the nation in early February on affordability alone. In that address, he should explain, clearly and simply, the central elements of his economic strategy, what’s been done so far, and what to expect in the next year; he should identify a handful of specific affordability parameters that affect every American; and he should commit to issuing an update on those same parameters on the first of every month.

And he must be ready and able — with the support of his economic team — to stand behind every figure he presents in his initial address and every month thereafter. Each must be rock solid, irrefutable.

In other words, on this topic, he should address the voting public in a manner that is the polar opposite of a stock Donald Trump political rally. Won’t that take the world by storm!

A key to his affordability communications will be defining a few affordability parameters that are meaningful and understandable. Among those he should consider:

• Gasoline cost: indicated by the national average of retail gas prices at the pump
• Food: a sampling of the average cost of staples (milk, bread, eggs, etc.)
• Taxes: quantified reduction of 2026 federal income tax burden compared to previous years (with a reminder that every single Democrat in Congress voted against his controversial One Big Beautiful Bill Act and that if they’d had their way, we’d all be paying much more in 2026)
• Jobs and wages: figures of merit on employment and compensation
• Retirement economics: figures of merit on IRAs and other retirement savings mechanisms
• Housing: figures of merit on housing costs, availability, and mortgage rates
• Healthcare costs: Flesh out a complex matter involving Trump’s plan and congressional action

The Trump pitch on affordability must speak directly to the public, in clear and simple terms, without requiring translation by media talkingheads. Let’s not hold our breath waiting for CNN to ask if anyone has noticed how affordable everything is becoming.

Hopefully, Trump’s public explanation of affordability will inject some reality into the subject. Growing a healthy economy is like gardening — it’s a slow-motion process that requires planning, care, and a lot of patience. The idea that Trump could walk into the Oval Office a year ago and press a button to undo four years of economic malpractice is nonsense, and to the degree that he implied that he could do so, that’s his error, and he must correct it.

Similarly, it’s foolish to expect Trump to be sitting at the Resolute Desk all day, working his economic magic. He’s got a nation and a world full of problems to deal with — his administration has put solid economic policies in place, and he has an exceptionally talented team, led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, that’s implementing them.

Yes, it is Trump’s economy now, and a lot can happen in the next year to upset the apple cart. But 2026 is looking like a very strong year for the U.S. economy — and therefore for affordability — and if that turns out to be the case, it should be obvious to all by next November.

In the meantime, Mr. President, you can help in that objective by not doing stupid stuff like naming things after yourself. If you can improve the lives of everyday Americans, your legacy will take care of itself.