WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump would prefer that voters not worry about inflation . But it's hard for them to ignore.

Filling up a basic Ford F-150 truck now costs about $100, up $30 from a year ago. Mortgage rates have jumped to levels that have depressed home sales. And for the past 12 months, consumer prices have risen faster than paychecks, making the average family poorer.

One week before midterm elections that will serve as a referendum on his second term, Trump is struggling to deliver on his campaign promise to bring down costs, even as he insists the country has entered an economic "golden age." The same frustration that powered his comeback two years ago could now cost Republicans control of Congress.

"Our nation is doing better now than ever before," Trump insists while campaigning, vowing that interest rates and oil prices will plunge once the war with Iran — which he started — comes to an end.

The word "affordability," he says, is nothing but "a con job by the Democrats," adding…