The State of Trump’s Economy Arrow

In his first joint address to Congress, Donald Trump promised to "rescue our economy and get dramatic and immediate relief to working families." One year later, Trump has done the opposite. He has waged a reckless trade war and unleashed disastrous economic policies that have raised prices on groceries, housing, and utilities, forcing working families, small businesses, and farmers to stretch their budgets to make ends meet.

Despite his promise to lower prices on "Day One," prices have continued to climb. American households paid an additional $2,120 last year because of Trump's inflation and household debt is at an all time high. Families and farmers are bearing the costs of Trump's disastrous tariffs, as 95% of tariff costs have been passed onto American consumers, and companies across industries are raising costs again. Tonight, Trump bragged about wage growth - but wage growth has stagnated and increased at the slowest rate since 2021. Lower and middle-income households are drowning under the weight of weaker wage growth. Trump's own pollster said, "Trying to argue about wages being up will not help; voters have to feel it." Health care costs have also skyrocketed after Trump and Republicans made the largest cuts to Medicaid in history and refused to extend the enhanced Affordable Care Act premium tax credits, causing premiums to double.

As everyday Americans are buckling under the weight of his unaffordable economy, Trump gave permanent tax cuts to the rich, and U.S. billionaires' wealth increased by $1.5 trillion in 2025.

Americans have increasingly soured on Trump's economy - yet Trump says he is "very proud" of it. Around twice as many Americans say Trump's economic policies have hurt their personal finances as helped, and a majority believes that the U.S. is worse off now than it was one year ago. Consumer confidence in January fell to its lowest level since 2014, as everyday Americans blame Trump for high prices, and nearly 60% of Americans indicated they were either very or somewhat worried about affording food and groceries for their families.