There is no war on Christmas this year, according to one of President Donald Trump’s senior economic advisors, who touted strong consumer spending during the holiday shopping season’s biggest days.
“The fact is that we just had the best Black Friday that we’ve ever seen. And it’s not just because people are out there taking debt on their credit cards, it’s because incomes are way up under President Trump,” National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said on “Fox & Friends” Sunday.
“[Incomes] dropped about $3,000 a person — $6,000 a family — under Joe Biden, and it’s up [$1,500] a person so far this year. And with all that extra money and with the government shutdown over,” he claimed, “people feel comfortable going back to stores, that we’re seeing a really blowout Thanksgiving and Christmas coming our way.”
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Hassett was responding to an article in The Atlantic titled “Donald Trump’s War on Christmas,” which placed responsibility on the president and his policies — reporting that the average family is expected to spend $132 more this year because of tariffs, rent, co-pays, mortgages, car payments and utilities.
“Holiday shoppers might not notice that things are a little less merry and bright,” The Atlantic wrote Thursday.
Last week’s Black Friday generated $11.8 billion in online sales — up 9.1% year over year to set a new single-day record — and another $6.4 billion on Thanksgiving Day, Adobe Analytics and the Associated Press reported.
Cyber Monday is expected to generate even more spending — up 6.3% from last year to reach $14.2 billion online — exceeding Adobe’s forecasts and underscoring how much shoppers are willing to spend this holiday season.
Meanwhile, a 2025 holiday survey from Deloitte found that 82% of consumers plan to shop between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday — up from 79% last year — though the average planned spend per shopper fell 4% to $622.
“I think all the retailers expect that both online and in-store sales are gonna be the highest we’ve ever seen,” Hassett emphasized. “And the point is that that’s happening even though inflation is way, way down under President Trump.”
“It was 5, 10% under Biden, and right now it’s running at about 2.5%. And it’s way lower than wage growth, right? And so people’s incomes are going up by way more than inflation, and that’s why we’re seeing these blowout sales,” he added.
The president seemingly celebrated a “Trump bump” hitting Black Friday—Cyber Monday, taking to Truth Social overnight to post a news article with the headline, “Black Friday spending soars as 2025 poised to be first quarter trillion dollar season.”
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