First lady Melania Trump joined President Donald Trump as they began a six-day Thanksgiving visit to Palm Beach Tuesday, Nov. 25. The first couple arrived hours after hosting an annual turkey-pardoning ceremony in which the president sought to counter the politically fraught affordability debate by citing “incredible strides” in lowering food prices.
The first lady had not traveled with the president on his more than a dozen weekend stays at their Palm Beach residence and club so far this term, although her father, Viktor Knavs, occasionally has. White House trade advisor Peter Navarro, who spent part of his youth in the Palm Beaches, communications director Steven Cheung and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche also flew on Air Force One, which landed at Palm Beach International Airport at 8:22 p.m.
For the president, the annual feast of gratitude arrives as surveys, and electoral results, show Americans increasingly worried and impatient about living costs. Specifically, Americans say they are struggling to make ends meet as they pay more for groceries, utility service and health care.
In Trump’s adopted Florida, household budgets will soon have to account for an increase in Obamacare premiums for 4.7 million residents and an FP&L rate increase for 12 million customers — all as of Jan. 1, 2026. On the flight to Palm Beach, the president told reporters that would “rather not” extend tax credits that help subsidize Obamacare for those enrolled in those programs.
“Somebody said I want to extend them for two years. I don’t want to extend them for two years,” Trump said. “I’d rather not extend them at all. Some kind of extension may be necessary to get something else done because the unaffordable care act has been a disaster.”
Trump has argued fuel costs have decreased during his administration but AAA – The Auto Club Group reported on Nov. 23 that gasoline prices in Florida stood at a statewide average of $3.10 per gallon, effectively unchanged from Thanksgiving a year ago.
The president, who said earlier this month he did not want to hear about “affordability,” expressed his own frustration with the persistent nationwide anxiety over consumer price hikes that some economists have blamed on the tariffs his administration has levied on U.S. trading partners.
Trump posted on his social media platform claiming “despite the massive amount of money being made” by the U.S. government from the tariffs the “full benefit” of the duties “has not yet been calculated.”
In another post, he included a chart comparing his administration’s to President Joe Biden’s and complained the media’s conclusion is that he “created an affordability crisis.”
During the White House ceremony pardoning two 50-pound turkeys, Gobble and Waddle, from North Carolina the president said his administration is “making incredible strides to make America affordable again.” He cited the government statistics showing the price of turkeys and potatoes down by double-digit percentages.
Ahead of the president’s arrival, the Republican Party of Florida issued a statement heralding what it said were the second Trump administration’s efforts to lower egg and gasoline pump prices plus the cost of this year’s Thanksgiving dinner.
“The Biden Administration brought record inflation and prices to our nation. Luckily, our national nightmare is over and President Trump is bringing inflation and prices down,” read the statement by the party’s chairman, Evan Power. “Republicans and the Trump Administration are prioritizing working families and making life more affordable for Americans and this holiday season we are seeing the results of that hard work.”
The White House issued its own assessment also lauding its progress in bringing “a dose of the economic relief” from hiking up production of U.S. energy and slashing regulations that “are translating into lower gas prices in many states and a decrease in the cost” of Thanksgiving meals.
“Make no mistake: this is not ‘mission accomplished.’ Americans are still paying far too much after four years of reckless Democrat spending and regulation — and that’s why the Trump Administration is relentlessly fighting to deliver the bold, structural changes that will bring lasting relief to all American families,” the statement said.
Data firm said key voting groups recalibrating as economic conditions worsen for them
Nonetheless, election analysis from a Democratic sweep of state and local races on Nov. 4 showed significant voter unhappiness with the country’s direction, particularly on so-called kitchen table issues. In a number of contests, Republican candidates were rebuffed by voters who a year ago had realigned with Trump and the GOP, particularly Black, Latino and younger voters.
This month, the marketing and data firm My Code Media released its latest tracking survey of voter attitudes and found Trump’s approval rating at just 34%. Junelle Cavero Harnal, head of My Code Political, said the rating is “an all-time low” for the president and “reflects a political recalibration underway” among voters of color, younger people and women.
Cavero Harnal said this month’s findings offer a sharp contrast to results from a year ago when men answered questions on the economy by stressing their role as bread winners and access to jobs while women pointed to cost of goods and services, including food costs, gasoline prices, childcare expenses.
“This year, [respondents] were talking about affordability,” she said. “This time around, it’s prices, inflation, health care access, affordable housing access. The number one issue is economic stress.”
Cavero Harnal said the survey found more than half of those polled saying economic conditions have gotten worse in the past six months. And a majority said they were dissastisfied with how government was responding to the challenge.
“We’re seeing a picture emerge of deep financial stress paired with rising disillusionment about how national leaders are responding,” she said.
Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at afins@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Melania Trump in Palm Beach with president for Mar-a-Lago Thanksgiving
Reporting by Antonio Fins, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
