Confronted with a plea from a longtime supporter struggling with rising prices, President Donald Trump flatly denied that Americans are paying more, insisting that costs are “way down” — a claim at odds with broad public polling and the lived experience of millions of voters.

The tense moment came during Special Report with Bret Baier on Fox News Wednesday night, as the anchor pressed Trump on economic frustration among his base following a string of Republican election losses the night before.

Baier read aloud a message from Regina Foley, a North Carolina retiree who said she had voted for Trump “three times previously” but was growing uneasy with the economy.

“I don’t see the best economy now,” Foley wrote. “Wall Street numbers do not reflect Main Street money. Please do something, President Trump.”

Trump rejected her premise outright.

“Beef we have to get down,” the president said. “I think of groceries — it’s an old-fashioned word, but it’s a beautiful word. Beef we have to get down, but we’ve got prices way down.”

He then pivoted to energy, arguing that cheaper oil and gas have pulled down costs across the economy.

“Think of this — she drives a car, probably, and her energy prices are way down. Energy is so all-encompassing, it’s so big that when energy comes down, everything comes down,” Trump said. “I have energy down to five-, six-year lows now.”

But data — and voter sentiment — tell a different story.

A Washington Post–ABC News–Ipsos survey conducted in late October found that seven in ten Americans say they’re spending more on groceries than a year ago, while nearly six in ten report higher utility bills. Only 6 percent said their utility costs had fallen.

The frustration cuts across party lines. Nearly nine in ten Democrats and a majority of Republicans (52 percent) said grocery costs have risen.

The same poll found that 59 percent of U.S. adults blame Trump “a great deal” or “a good amount” for the current rate of inflation, underscoring how economic anxiety has become one of the administration’s biggest political liabilities heading into 2026.

Trump’s insistence that “prices are way down” contrasts sharply with the daily reality of Americans squeezed by high food, rent, and utility costs. The president’s comments echo his earlier claims that inflation had “essentially disappeared,” despite government data showing year-over-year price increases still outpacing wage growth in key sectors.

The Fox exchange — and Foley’s letter in particular — highlight the widening gap between Trump’s economic messaging and the frustrations of working- and middle-class voters who once formed the core of his political coalition.

“I want Republicans to keep control of Congress in 2026,” Foley wrote, “but something has to be done fast.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)