Trump insists during NC visit he's brought down costs, but residents say
they're feeling squeezed
[December 20, 2025]
By MAKIYA SEMINERA
ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. (AP) — She had worked 22 days straight in her job as a
technician at an engine plant to save up, and now Daijah Bryant could
finally do what she was putting off: Christmas shopping.
Bryant pushed her cart out of a Walmart in Rocky Mount, North Carolina,
and loaded her sedan's backseat with bags of gifts. While they would
soon bring joy to her friends and family, it was difficult for the
26-year-old to feel good about the purchases.
“Having to pay bills, if you happen to pay rent and try to do Christmas
all at the same time, it is very, very hard,” she said with
exasperation.
Ahead of President Donald Trump's Friday evening visit to Rocky Mount,
some residents said they were feeling an economic squeeze that seems
hard to escape. The uneasy feeling spans political affiliation in the
town, which is split between two largely rural and somewhat impoverished
counties, although some were more hopeful than others that there are
signs of reprieve on the horizon.
It was Trump's second event this month aimed at championing his economic
policies ahead of a consequential midterm election next year, both held
in presidential battleground states. Similar to Trump's earlier stop in
Pennsylvania, Rocky Mount sits in a U.S. House district that has been
historically competitive. But earlier this year, the
Republican-controlled legislature redrew the boundaries for the eastern
North Carolina district to favor their party as part of Trump's push to
have GOP-led states gerrymander their congressional districts to help
his party retain its House majority for the last half of his term.
Rocky Mount may be in a politically advantageous location, but the
hardships its residents report mirror the tightening financial strains
many Americans say they are feeling, with high prices for groceries,
housing and utilities among their top concerns. Polls show persistently
high prices have put Americans in a grumpy mood about the state of the
economy, which a large majority say is performing poorly.
Trump has insisted the economy is trending upward and the country will
see some relief in the new year and beyond. In some cases, he has
dismissed affordability concerns and encouraged Americans to decrease
their consumption.
In his Friday night speech, he leaned into a persistent refrain:
Democratic President Joe Biden alone was to blame for any economic
distress Americans may be feeling, but things are getting better under
his watch.
He boasted that steps he's taken—including generating billions of
dollars of revenue through tariffs, pressing pharmaceutical giants to
slash the prices of some medicines, and a so-called $1776 “warrior
dividend” for U.S. troops that is being paid through a provision in a
tax cut extensions and expansions bill he signed into law in July—will
have real impact on American's pocketbooks.
“I inherited the mess. I got the prices down and they are going down
still further,” Trump said. He added, “Over the past 11 months, we have
brought more positive change to Washington than any administration in
the history of our country.”
‘Without the businesses, it’s dead'
Crimson smokestacks tower over parts of downtown Rocky Mount, reminding
the town's roughly 54,000 residents of its roots as a once-booming
tobacco market. Through the heart of downtown, graffiti-covered trains
still lug along on the railroad tracks that made Rocky Mount a bustling
locomotive hotspot in the last century.
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Railroad tracks cut through downtown Rocky Mount, N.C., Thursday,
Dec. 18, 2025, with a boarded up building in the background. (AP
Photo/Makiya Seminera)
Those days seem long gone for some residents who have watched the
town change over the decades. Rocky Mount has adapted by tapping
into other industries such as manufacturing and biopharmaceuticals,
but it's also had to endure its fair share of challenges. Most
recently, financial troubles in the city's government have meant
higher utility prices for residents.
The city has been investing to try to revitalize its downtown, but
progress has been slow. Long stretches of empty storefronts that
once contained restaurants, furniture shops and drug stores line the
streets. Most stores were closed Thursday morning, and not much foot
traffic roamed the area.
That's left Lucy Slep, who co-owns The Miner's Emporium jewelry
store with her husband, waiting for Trump's promised “Golden Age of
America.”
The jewelry store has been in downtown Rocky Mount for nearly four
decades, just about as long as the 64-year-old said she has lived in
the area. But the deterioration of downtown Rocky Mount has spanned
at least a decade, and Slep said she's still hoping it will come
back to life.
“Every downtown in every little town is beautiful,” she said. “But
without the businesses, it's dead.”
Slep's store hasn't escaped the challenges other Rocky Mount small
businesses have endured. Instead of buying, more people have
recently been selling their jewelry to the shop, Slep said.
Customers have been scarce. About a week out from Christmas, the
store — with handmade molded walls and ceilings resembling cave
walls — sat empty aside from the rows of glass cases containing
jewelry. It's been hard, Slep said, but she and her husband are
trying to make it through.
“This year is just not a jewelry Christmas, for whatever reason,”
she said.
Better times on the horizon — depending on whom you ask
Slep is already looking ahead to next year for better times. She is
confident that Trump's economic policies — including upcoming tax
cuts — will make a marked difference in people's cost of living. In
her eyes, the financial strains people are feeling are residual
effects from the Biden administration that eventually will fade.
Optimism about what's to come under Trump's economy might also
depend on whether residents feel their economic conditions have
changed drastically in the past year. Shiva Mrain, an engineer in
Rocky Mount, said his family's situation has not “become worse nor
better.” He's been encouraged by seeing lower gas prices.
Bryant, the engine technician, feels a bit more disillusioned.
She didn't vote in the last election because she didn't think either
party could enact changes that would improve her life. Nearly a year
into the Trump administration, Bryant is still waiting to see
whether the president will deliver.
“I can't really say ... that change is coming,” she said. “I don't
think anything is going to change.”
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