President Donald Trump listens during a roundtable discussion with business leaders on December 10. Evan Vucci/AP

For many people, the economy is a simple equation: paychecks minus expenses. When it feels like our incomes are growing faster than prices, the economy is in good shape. When they’re not, it’s lousy.

President Donald Trump seems to be making an alternative calculation .

Instead of focusing on the cost of living or affordability, which Trump has repeatedly labeled a “ hoax ,” the president prefers to tout the revenue the US Treasury is collecting from tariffs and business investment. He talks frequently about the vast sums of money America is bringing in, comparing his “hottest ever” economy favorably to the supposedly “dead” country under former President Joe Biden.

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