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Democrats were able to run up the score in key races across the country Tuesday by harnessing some of the same populist fervor that helped get Trump reelected a year ago — but also by focusing on the kitchen table issues the Republican vowed to fix. Now, fears about the economy made Trump the face of much of the public's discontent.

"We learned a lot," Trump acknowledged Wednesday. He later posted online, "Affordability is our goal."

Vice President JD Vance struck a similar tone, posting on social media: "We're going to keep on working to make a decent life affordable in this country, and that's the metric by which we'll ultimately be judged in 2026 and beyond."

That followed voters in the Virginia and New Jersey governor races, the New York City mayoral contest and the California ballot proposition — all citing economic concerns as a top issue. Democrats swept those elections, and it was difficult to point to any major race, anywhere, where Republicans had a key victory.

The reversal of fortune from a year ago was stark. Back then, voters returned Trump to the White House on the promise that he could quickly bring down inflation, jump-start factory hiring and shower the country in newfound wealth from steep tariffs he imposed on U.S. allies the world over.

Instead, voters express concerns that high prices for groceries, electricity bills and housing are draining their bank accounts.

'People have 401(k)s'

Trump insists he's strengthened the economy, but there are few signs the public is putting much confidence in his claims about an American "golden age," nor his assertion that inflation was tamped down.

Recently pressed on Americans still worried about high grocery prices, Trump pointed to the stock market. "Look, 401(k)s. People have 401(k)s," the president said in an interview with CBS News' "60 Minutes" broadcast Sunday.

He said grocery prices are falling, but the most recent inflation report shows they're up 2.7% from a year ago.

Overall consumer prices rose 3% over the past 12 months — higher than the rate going into Trump's 2024 election win. The Federal Reserve targets inflation at 2%.

'I don't think it was good for Republicans'

While the stock market surged and life looks good for tech executives with artificial intelligence investments, hiring slowed sharply this summer in the wake of Trump rolling out his tariffs.

The AP Voter Poll showed that anxiety about the economy helped the Democrats on Tuesday.

Trump did not actively campaign for his party ahead of Election Day 2025. With votes still being counted, he was already ducking blame, posting that he "WASN'T ON THE BALLOT."

The morning after the election, while hosting Senate Republicans at the White House, Trump was more reflective. "Last night, it was not expected to be a victory," he said.

The elections were largely in areas that recently favored Democrats, so there are limits to interpreting what the results could mean for next year's broader midterm races. Still, the size of Democratic margins indicated the degree of frustration with economic conditions under Trump.

"I don't think it was good for Republicans," Trump said. "I'm not sure it was good for anybody, but we had an interesting evening, and we learned a lot."

Later, while traveling to Florida, to lay out what he deems to be his economic successes for an audience of business leaders and athletes, the president posted another message in which he seemed to react to the election's results.

While insisting "Our Economy is BOOMING" he added, "Affordability is our goal."

That was a departure from last weekend, when Trump threw a lavish Jazz Age-themed "Great Gatsby" party at his Florida club, Mar-a-Lago after jetting back from a trip to Asia dripping with luxury.

The Trump administration maintained that the working class will soon benefit — along with the billionaires.

"We're going to see Main Street surge here, along with Wall Street, which we've already seen," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said this week on Fox News Channel's "Jesse Watters Primetime."

In the run-up to Tuesday's elections, Trump focused his messaging on mass deportations of immigrants in the country illegally and a push to reduce crime by deploying National Guard troops to cities with Democratic leadership. Yet, the AP Voter Poll found that few of those casting their ballots considered crime or immigration a top priority.

"Our side needs to focus on affordability," said Vivek Ramaswamy, a former Republican presidential candidate and Trump ally now running for Ohio governor in 2026. "Make the American dream affordable. Bring down costs, electric costs, grocery costs, health care costs and housing costs. And lay out how we're going to do it."