Trump Official Brags About Americans’ Massive Credit Card Spending. But That Doesn’t Mean They’re Doing Better

A senior White House official went on national television this week and told Americans that surging credit card debt is good news. Kevin Hassett, Director of the National Economic Council and President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser, appeared on Fox Business Wednesday morning and declared that “credit card spending is through the roof,” presenting rising consumer debt as proof of a healthy economy. The reaction was swift, fierce, and entirely predictable. But the real story behind that boast is far more troubling.

Hassett made the remark during an interview with Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo, while discussing the jobs outlook for the rest of 2026. He cited a meeting with the head of one of the country’s five largest banks, saying they reviewed credit card data together. His conclusion: Americans were spending heavily on gasoline and “everything else, too.” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had made a similar claim days earlier, and Hassett echoed it without hesitation. To the administration, this counted as a win.

What Hassett did not address is the context that makes that claim ring hollow to millions of Americans. Gas prices have surged since the United States launched military operations against Iran in late February, topping $4.54 per gallon nationally as of this week. Inflation climbed from 2.4% in February to 3.3% in March. Consumer spending data from the Commerce Department showed a 15.5% jump in gas station purchases between February and March alone. Spending more is not always a choice. Sometimes it is simply what surviving costs.

When “Strong Consumer” Is Code for “Struggling Consumer”

The political backlash was immediate. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries posted on X that working-class Americans are maxing out their credit cards to cover groceries and gas, calling the administration’s framing “shameful.” California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office accused the White House of actively celebrating the financial strain being placed on ordinary people. The House Majority PAC, aligned with Democratic leadership, quipped that Hassett should become “the spokesperson for the entire Republican Party.”

Warren Gunnels, staff director for Senator Bernie Sanders, cut to the core of the contradiction. According to Gunnels, Americans are putting more on credit cards because they no longer have enough money to cover the rising cost of virtually everything. He also pointed to a broken Trump campaign promise: the president had pledged to cap credit card interest rates at 10%. That never happened. The current average interest rate on accounts carrying a balance sits at approximately 21.5%, according to Federal Reserve data for Q1 2026.

Even some conservatives found the optics difficult to defend. Former Republican congressman Justin Amash wrote that the administration appeared to be “trolling MAGA.” Pod Save America host Jon Favreau, tongue firmly in cheek, suggested Hassett might secretly be working for the Democrats. Senator Chris Van Hollen noted directly that Trump had promised to bring prices down on day one and was now sending his top economic adviser to convince Americans that paying more for everything is actually good news. The gap between the message and the lived reality is precisely what made the moment go viral.

$1.28 Trillion in Debt, and the Bills Keep Coming

The numbers underneath Hassett’s boast tell a story the White House did not volunteer. Americans are collectively carrying more than $1.28 trillion in credit card debt, the highest level on record since the Federal Reserve Bank of New York began tracking this data in 1999. That balance has grown by more than $500 billion since early 2021. The average cardholder who carries a balance from month to month now owes nearly $7,900. These are not numbers that describe a consumer confidently spending. They describe a consumer backed into a corner.

Interest rates are making that debt exponentially harder to escape. The average annual percentage rate on credit cards accruing interest sits at roughly 21.5%, according to Federal Reserve data, down slightly from a peak above 22% but still among the highest levels in three decades. New card offers are averaging nearly 24%. For a cardholder carrying a $7,000 balance and making $250 in monthly payments, that rate means thousands of dollars in interest before the debt is cleared. Every swipe that Hassett counted as consumer confidence is another entry in a ledger many Americans will be paying off for years.

The picture gets starker when you look at who is swiping and why. According to a December study from Academy Bank, roughly three-quarters of people are now using credit cards to cover essentials: groceries, medical bills, and routine living costs. A March report from the Century Foundation and Protect Borrowers found that about one in three Americans was unable to pay their full credit card balance last year. These are not splurges or signs of prosperity. They are indicators of a household sector running on fumes and borrowed time.

What the Data Says That the Spin Does Not

The administration’s cheerful reading of credit card data does not align with how Americans themselves feel about their finances. A Gallup poll from last month found that 55% of Americans believe their personal finances are getting worse, a figure higher than what consumers reported during the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2008 financial crisis. Separate polling shows 65% of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy. The gap between what officials are saying in television studios and what people are experiencing at checkout lanes has rarely been wider.

Subprime auto loan defaults, which affect borrowers with lower credit scores, hit a 32-year record delinquency rate of 6.9% in January, according to data from Fitch, surpassing levels seen during the Great Recession. Private credit defaults are also climbing. These are not footnotes to a strong economy. They are flashing signals that a significant portion of the population is not keeping up, regardless of how much activity shows up in aggregate spending data. High transaction volume can mask financial distress just as easily as it can reflect genuine confidence.

The nonprofit financial wellness organization Credit.org said it plainly: credit card use can appear to be a positive economic force on the surface, but when that spending is driven by debt and unsustainable interest, it creates instability rather than growth. Hassett is a credentialed economist who has worked in multiple presidential administrations and at the Federal Reserve. He knows what rising credit card balances can signal. The more pressing question, as Americans watch prices climb and interest charges compound, is not whether the White House knows the difference between spending out of strength and spending out of desperation. It is whether they care.