Trump’s base starts asking the questions he hates most

Supporters of President Donald Trump want to know where their money is.

It has been a little over a year since he's been in office, and MAGA is questioning why he hasn't solved the affordability crisis.

Bloomberg News spoke to conservatives at a conservative conference over the weekend, where no one with the last name of "Trump" even spoke.

One of the gathering spots at the Conservative Political Action Conference is the wag and merch section, where supporters can buy conservative fashions. One such item cited by the report was a "Make America Sparkle Again" jacket that is completely sequined. It was being sold for $500. But a lot of folks simply didn't have that kind of money.

Even one vendor selling pro-Trump items like flags with Trump dressed as Rambo is upset about Trump's economy.

“I actually think [the White House] should do better,” Elaine Juezan said. “I’ve seen the market go up and down, and I want to help people get homes, but it’s so difficult when the rates are not going down.”

“Things are very tough right now, so I would love to see some more progress,” said Max Ballat, who paid to attend and flew in from San Francisco.

Trump has not only failed to address affordability, but he has even gone so far as to call it an invention by the left.

"The word 'affordability' is a con job by the Democrats," Trump said at the end of last year.

While many would have used the gathering to rally the MAGA loyalists, they recycled old social issues.

Trump's claim is that he's done so much to help Americans, particularly with his new website Trump RX, that offers some lower costs for prescription drugs while delivering little help to others.

Trump appeared to learn the word "groceries" during his 2024 campaign, when he promised that rising food costs would be addressed immediately. Some costs have gone down, but others have gone up. Gas prices reached over $4 per gallon.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner sang Trump's praises about the housing affordability crisis, but the cost of housing hasn't gone down. Instead, they continue to increase, year-over-year.

“Our work is bearing much fruit,” Turner said. “We want to help future generations have the same opportunities to achieve the American Dream that their parents and grandparents had. The stakes are very high.”

“What word have you not heard over the last two weeks? Affordability. Because I’ve won. I’ve won affordability,” Trump claimed in Georgia last month.

It's not a sentiment shared by Americans, however. A YouGov-Market Watch poll conducted in late February showing a whopping 80 percent of Americans say that the affordability crisis under Trump hasn't improved. In fact, nearly half (47 percent) say things have gotten worse.

CPAC Chair Matt Schlapp explained that the problem is really all in messaging. He encouraged Republicans to do a better job of convincing voters that everything is fine.

“We still have to win the argument that things are going to get better, and that weighs heavy on the administration’s shoulders,” Schlapp said in an interview with Bloomberg.

Other Republicans, like Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) promise that people will get huge tax returns this year because their cuts to corporations and the wealthy will trickle down.

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