(WASHINGTON) -- President Donald Trump said the U.S. economy is strong and insisted polls showing Americans are feeling economic pain are "fake" during an interview on Fox News that aired on Monday night.

Trump said bad news about the economy amounted to a "con job by the Democrats," adding Democrats "feed" major news network anchors with the message the economy is bad and then "every anchor" does "exactly what they say."

"I'll never forget, they used a word like 'manufactured,'" Trump said in the interview. "You remember the word 'manufacture'? It's a 'manufactured' economy. Nobody uses that word. Every anchor broke in 'manufactured.' They do exactly what they say. It's such a rigged system."

The U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 3.8% in the second quarter in the government's final estimate, besting a 3.3% rate issued in its second estimate and far exceeding a 3% initial estimate. But consumer prices rose 3% in September compared to a year ago, with inflation at its highest level since January, the most-recent government data showed. The inflation reading came in lower than economists' expectations.

Trump defended his handling of the economy, saying that costs are "way down" across the board.

"So are you ready? Costs are way down," Trump said. "Gasoline is going to be hitting $2 pretty soon, or around $2. Gasoline is at $2.70 now and it was at $4.50 under Biden, under sleepy Joe. When gasoline comes down, when energy comes down -- and everybody agrees energy is down -- we drill, you know, drill, baby drill. We're going like wild."

The average consumer price for a gallon of gas in the U.S. was $3.072 on Tuesday, according to AAA, which said the average price was $3.083 a gallon a year ago.

Trump was also pressed about a rollout by his administration for a 50-year mortgage option, something that faced criticism on social media as critics pointed out that the extended payoff timeline would mean Americans would pay more in interest than they would through the life of a shorter loan.

Laura Ingraham, the Fox News host, suggested to Trump that longer loans could be construed as a "giveaway to the banks" and would simply be "prolonging the time it would take for Americans to own a home outright."

Trump pushed back on Ingraham, saying that “all it means is you pay less per month.”