Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts had an unexpected phone call with President Donald Trump on Monday, January 12, shortly after she criticized his leadership and the Democratic Party in a speech regarding the U.S. economy.
Speaking at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Warren said Democrats need to “read the room” and realize that Americans are “stretching to the breaking point financially.” Warren argued that Americans will vote for candidates who “credibly demonstrate” that they can address the economy.
Warren also reportedly said that Trump has a “credibility problem” and isn’t helping Americans, specifically with lowering the cost of housing. Later on Monday, Warren released a statement revealing that Trump called her following the speech.
“I told him that Congress can pass legislation to cap credit card rates if he will actually fight for it,” Warren said. “I also urged him to get House Republicans to pass the bipartisan ROAD to Housing Act, which passed the Senate with unanimous support and would build more housing and lower costs.”
Donald Trump called me today.
It’s long past time to deliver lower costs for working people. pic.twitter.com/DTpLureu2g
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) January 12, 2026
Warren added, “It’s long past time to deliver lower costs for working people.”
Trump had not publicly addressed Warren’s comments nor the phone call itself as of publication. However, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described the conversation as a “good call” and said that Trump wanted to get in touch with Warren after he heard her speech.
“President Trump has shown a willingness to pick up the phone and talk with anyone,” Leavitt told the Daily Beast.
Trump and Warren have publicly gone back and forth for years, with Trump infamously referring to Warren as “Pocahontas” during his first presidency. Warren has partial Native American heritage, and Trump accused her of falsely claiming Native American ancestry. Warren took a DNA test in 2018, and the results showed “strong evidence” of some Native American ancestry.
If Democrats want to win elections, we must ferociously and unapologetically serve the needs of working people. pic.twitter.com/AR3hb5ngxD
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) January 12, 2026
Monday’s phone conversation comes at a much-needed time. The U.S. economy added roughly 50,000 jobs in December, bringing the total for 2025 to approximately 584,000 — one of the lowest totals since 2000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate dropped from 4.5% to 4.4%.
“The United States is in a jobless boom,” Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, told CNN. “There was almost no hiring in 2025 … we would be talking about job losses in 2025, if it weren’t for health care and social assistance.”
However, average hourly earnings rose 0.3% in December and 3.8% for the year. That could bode well for 2026, as could Trump and Warren’s decision to set aside their past issues, at least for one day, to discuss putting the U.S. economy in a stronger position to succeed.
House Speaker Mike Johnson recently invited Trump to deliver his State of the Union address to Congress on February 24. Viewers should expect to hear Trump discuss his plans for the economy that night.
