U.S. President Donald Trump places a hand over his heart during a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., November 11, 2025. REUTERS Kevin Lamarque
Idalia Bisbal moved to Allentown, Pa., to escape high prices in his retirement, but he said President Donlad Trump’s economy is hounding him with inflation and big price tags on his fixed income.
“It’s worse than ever,” Bisbal told reporters. “The prices are high. Everything is going up. You can’t afford food because you can’t afford rent. Utilities are too high. Gas is too expensive. Everything is too expensive.”
Vice President JD Vance had recently finished a rally nearby for the administration’s second visit to Pennsylvania in a week. But, Like Trump at an earlier visit, rather than outline plans to lower inflation, Vance blamed high costs on the Biden administration, which has not been in office for more than 11 months.
The Associated Press reports the Trump administration appears wary that the public is not reacting well to the impact Trump’s policies are having on the economy.
“Only 31 percent of U.S. adults now approve of how Trump is handling the economy, down from 40 percent in March, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll. Yet Trump calls affordability concerns a ” hoax.”
Allentown’s 125,000 people are Pennsylvania’s third-largest metro area, but interviews this week with local residents and leaders reveal prices are too high on gas, heating oil, grocery stores, health care and housing.
“Those worries are a vulnerability for Republicans in competitive congressional districts like the one that includes Allentown, which could decide control of the U.S. House in next year’s midterms,” reports Associated Press.
Pennsylvania is a “must-win state” in presidential politics, according to AP. Trump and Kamala Harris both made several visits to Allentown, with the then-vice president visiting the city on the eve of the election.
“Trump’s win last year helped lift other Republicans, like U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, to victory. Mackenzie, who unseated a three-term Democrat, is now one of the most vulnerable Republicans in Congress,” AP reports. “To win again, he must turn out the Republicans who voted in 2024 — many of whom were likely more energized by Trump’s candidacy — while appealing to independents.”
But today, the AP reports few Allentown residents share “Trump’s unbridled boosterism about the economy,” despite Trump giving it an A+++++.
“In the rich man’s world. In our world, trust me, it’s not an ‘A.’ To me, it’s an ‘F,’ ‘F,’ ‘F,’ ‘F,’ ‘F,’ ‘F,'” said Bisbal.
Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Tony Iannelli told AP that Trump’s grade was a “stretch,” saying “we have a strong economy but I think it’s not yet gone to the next stage of what I would call robust.”
