As layoffs hit record levels, unemployment has risen to a near-four-year high, manufacturing continues to contract, and the U.S. faces “persistent” inflation, the White House says President Donald Trump will be sharing with the American people the “positive” news about jobs, incomes, and inflation.

“The American people don’t know how good they have it,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday on “Face the Nation.” After blaming Democrats for “scarcity,” he insisted that “next year we’re going to move on to prosperity.”

Kevin Hassett, the Director of the White House’s National Economic Council told CNBC on Monday, “There’s a huge amount of positive news that the president is going to be breaking this week about the economy.”

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“And so there’s a lot of positive news that’s positive for people’s jobs, for people’s incomes, and for inflation. And President Trump is just going to go out there and remind people of that,” said Hassett, who is rumored to be in line to be Trump’s pick to head the Federal Reserve.

Once again, Hassett turned to Trump’s first term to offer positive examples.

Hassett said, “going back to the eye of the horizon … President Trump’s economic policies were profoundly popular just before COVID, in his first term, because he had $6,500 of income growth after the big tax cuts.”

He added that next year, “the typical person who’s got no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, is probably gonna see an extra $1,600 to $2,000. A lot of that will come as tax refunds in the beginning of the year.”

Hassett appeared aware that Trump’s polling on the economy is underwater.

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“As Americans voice broad concerns about the economy,” The New York Times reported late last week, “Mr. Trump is facing discontent from across the political spectrum, with even some of his longest-serving allies raising complaints and urging the administration to refocus on economic issues.”

“Across surveys,” the Times added, “voters express frustration with the current state of the economy. A majority of voters said they had been hurt by Mr. Trump’s economy in the Fox News poll, and three-quarters of Americans said their grocery costs had gone up in the past year, according to polling from Marquette University Law School. Just 26 percent said Mr. Trump was doing a good job at managing the cost of living, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.”

But Hassett insisted that “people are going to look at their wallets and say, ‘Oh boy, this guy’s really making me better off.’ And in the end, that’s more important than any poll.”

Kevin Hassett on Trump’s economic message: “There’s a lot of positive news that positive for people’s jobs, for people’s incomes, and for inflation, and President Trump is just going to go out there and remind people of that.” pic.twitter.com/SwrblunvQE

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 8, 2025

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Image via Reuters

Months ago, when President Donald Trump urged Texas to redraw its congressional maps in a manner that — he said — would hand Republicans an additional five seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, he launched what has become a sweeping mid-decade redistricting push spanning more than a dozen red and blue states.

Trump has pressed additional GOP-led states to join Texas in mid-decennial redistricting — a rare exercise given that congressional districts, per the U.S. Constitution, are reapportioned based on each decade’s census. But now, some Republicans are expressing anxiety over this all-out effort.

“Worried Republicans say basing redistricting on the 2024 election is a sizable leap,” The Washington Post reported, “both because Trump’s coalition has not shown a willingness to show up when he isn’t on the ballot and polls show Trump is hemorrhaging support from key groups in his unique coalition.”

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Republican operative Annalyse Keller told Meet the Press Now, “I am not confident that that Trump coalition in a midterm election is going to stay with Republicans.”

“There might be a chance that some of this backfires,” Keller added.

Trump’s poll numbers are at their lowest of his second term, and Democrats in some races have shown they are outperforming 2024 election numbers. The electorate is changing, and some groups that moved over to Trump in 2024 have already begun backing away in 2025.

“At the heart of these concerns are Latino voters, who are central to the Texas redistricting plan and were expected to be key to whatever Republicans decide to do in Florida,” the Post reported. “Trump made inroads with Latino voters in 2024, especially with Latino men, which helped propel him to victory in key battleground states. But Trump’s standing with Latino voters has fallen off a cliff in recent months.”

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The Post cited a November Pew Research Center survey that “found 70 percent of Latinos ‘disapprove of the way Trump is handling his job as president,’ and 61 percent said ‘Trump’s economic policies have made economic conditions worse,’ a notable finding because the economy was a primary reason 43 percent of Latino voters backed Trump in 2024.”

Pollster and former advisor to Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign, Matt A. Barreto, told the Post: “So if someone is redistricting and they are trying to draw Republican performances based on Trump-Harris characteristics, they are going to be wrong in 2026, because 2025 has already shown us this.”

Redrawing congressional maps in an effort to pick up GOP seats can make solid Republican districts more competitive.

Indeed, the Post reported that “Republicans are moving Republican support from GOP-friendly districts to make these new districts lean more toward the GOP, effectively making former stronghold districts more competitive — the opposite, say these Republicans, of what a party should do ahead of an election that is expected to go against them.”

READ MORE: Inside Trump’s ‘Golden Age’: Troubling New Trends Emerge

Image via Reuters 

U.S. Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) is accusing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents of pepper-spraying her in her face while she was at a local Tucson, Arizona restaurant.

Rep. Grijalva in a video on social media said she saw about 40 mostly-masked ICE agents at a restaurant she frequents weekly.

The agents were “in several vehicles that the community had stopped right here, right in the middle of the street, because they were afraid that they were taking people without due process, without any kind of notice.”

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She said that the community was “protecting their people” when she was “sprayed in the face by a very aggressive agent,” and “pushed around by others when I literally was not being aggressive.”

“I was asking for clarification, which is my right as a member of Congress,” she continued. “So, once I introduced myself, once I did, I assumed that it would be a little calmer, but there was literally only one person that was trying to speak to me in any kind of civil tone, and everyone else was being rude and disrespectful, and I just can only imagine if they’re going to treat me like that, how they’re treating everybody else.”

Congresswoman Grijalva said she saw “people directly sprayed,” including “members of our press” and staff members.

She blasted President Donald Trump, saying that he “has no regard for any due process, the rule of law, the Constitution — they’re literally disappearing people from the streets.”

Critics slammed the agents’ action.

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U.S. Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) wrote that Rep. Grijalva “was doing her job, standing up for her community.”

“Pepper-spraying a sitting member of Congress is disgraceful, unacceptable, and absolutely not what we voted for. Period,” he added.

“This is unacceptable and outrageous,” observed Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes. “Enforcing the rule [of] law does not mean pepper spraying a member of Congress for simply asking questions. Effective law enforcement requires restraint and accountability, not unchecked aggression.”

The Bulwark’s Sam Stein noted, “quite the beginning for Grijalva, who wasn’t seated for weeks, [cast] the decisive vote to get the Epstein files, and now has apparently been pepper sprayed in the face by immigration agents.”

Also calling the action “outrageous,” U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) wrote: “We are Members of Congress with oversight authority of ICE. Rep Grijalva was completely within her rights to stand up for her constituents. ICE is completely lawless.”

“First they tackle a sitting Senator,” noted U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY). “Now they’re pepper spraying a Representative. It’s clear ICE is spinning out of control. We will hold the agency accountable.”

ICE just conducted a raid by Taco Giro in Tucson – a small mom-and-pop restaurant that has served our community for years.

When I presented myself as a Member of Congress asking for more information, I was pushed-aside and pepper sprayed. pic.twitter.com/gPx0p3IXP2

— Rep. Adelita Grijalva (@Rep_Grijalva) December 5, 2025

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Image via Reuters