Trump Promised A Golden Age. He Delivered A Gilded Age.

Welcome To The Neighborhood Republicans Built

Since January 2025, Republicans have controlled the White House, the Senate, and the House. Every policy, every bill passed, every executive order over the last two years is theirs to own, and Americans are now living with the results: an economy built for the wealthy and well-connected and paid for by everyone else.

Two years of Republican control has left working families paying more for gas, groceries, health care, and utilities, with less money and fewer good jobs to show for it. This is what Republican lawmakers voted for. Trump imposed tariffs that raised the price of everything families buy. Congressional Republicans stripped health care and food assistance from millions of people to give the richest households tax breaks. Trump started an illegal war with Iran and sent gas prices soaring. While Americans paid the price, the Trump family cashed in.

In 2026, a middle class family that hasn't changed a thing in two years-same commutes, same jobs, same grocery list-is now paying more but getting less. Neighbors in manufacturing have lost their jobs, hiring has all but stalled, and anyone lucky enough to get a raise has watched prices outpace their lagging wages. They're paying more at the pump because of a war they didn't choose and more for clothes, appliances, and groceries because of Trump's disastrous tariffs. Their electric bill is up 15 percent, and if they buy health coverage on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace, their premiums are likely up more than 50 percent. If they relied on SNAP or Medicaid, that assistance may already be gone-and these cuts are used to fund tax giveaways to for billionaires and big corporations instead. Down the street, the local small businesses and family farms are getting squeezed. Tariffs are forcing shop owners to raise prices, cut hours, and let workers go and farmers are paying record highs for diesel and struggling to afford fertilizer. Meanwhile, crypto billionaires and oil and gas magnates had their taxes cut, paid for direct access to the president, and walked away with sweetheart deals-including exemptions from Trump's tariffs.

This is Trump's Gilded Age. Take a look around:

The Mansion: Tax Breaks for Billionaires & Giveaways for Trump's Family and Friends.

The Republican tax law gave multimillionaires tax cuts of more than $200,000 per year while taking about $1,200 a year from the lowest income. The top 1 percent got roughly $1 trillion in tax cuts while everyone else saw $1 trillion gutted from their health care. This kind of reverse-Robin Hood corruption goes all the way to the top: President Trump and his family have made more than $4 billion off his presidency, including an estimated $2.7 billion for just himself. He's used the government to push billions in contracts to companies that benefit his sons and allies. His wealthy donors have avoided paying his tariffs, and his war on affordable clean energy has delivered billions for his Big Oil and Gas buddies-while American families foot the bill.

WSJ - Trump's Megabill Helps Rich and Hurts Poor, CBO Says - CBO projects the lowest-income 10 percent of households will lose about $1,200 a year, mostly from Medicaid and SNAP cuts, while the top 10 percent gain about $13,600, mostly from lower taxes. [WSJ, 8/11/25]

Reuters - Under the Trump crypto playbook, the family always wins. Investors don't - "Risking little of their own money, the US president and his sons have added at least $2.3 billion to the family fortune from their main crypto ventures, while the investors they've wooed have taken a $2.3 billion hit, a Reuters examination found." [Reuters, 6/9/26]

Politico - Administration delays release of IRS data showing impact of GOP tax cuts - The Trump administration is delaying the release of detailed data showing how Republicans' 2025 tax cuts affected millions of Americans' taxes, even as it tries to sell voters on the law ahead of the midterm elections. [Politico, 10/14/26]

CNBC - Donald Trump's Big Beautiful Bill gives the oil industry everything it wants, ends support for solar and wind - "This bill will be the most transformational legislation that we've seen in decades in terms of access to both federal lands and federal waters," Mike Sommers, president of the American Petroleum Institute, n industry lobbying group, told CNBC. "It includes almost all of our priorities." [CNBC, 7/23/25]

NPR - How Trump's Treasury is shifting sanctions to punish his critics and reward friends - "This authority is being utilized in ways to augment the power of an individual rather than advance our country's interests," said Pressman, adding it is "rewarding loyalists and punishing those who are perceived to be opponents."[NPR, 3/17/26]

The New Yorker - Trump's Profiteering Hits $4 Billion - In August, I reported that the President and his family had made $3.4 billion by leveraging his position. After his first year back in office, the number has ballooned. [The New Yorker, 1/31/26]

Your Home: The Trump Tax Costs You

Every fill-up costs more because of Trump's illegal war. His Iran War has already cost families more than $2,000, including more than $1,000 in higher energy costs. Families who heat their homes with oil will see a roughly 30 percent jump this winter. See what the war is costing your family: ITEP's Iran war fuel cost calculator

Center for American Progress - Fact Sheet: Costs of the Iran War - Prices for fuel remain higher than before the war. As of October 22, Americans had paid more than $141 billion in extra costs for gas and diesel since the war began, according to the Brown University Iran War Energy Cost Tracker. [CAP, 10/23/26]

Forbes - The Iran War Has Cost $2,000 Per Household - So Far - According to a new analysis by Moody's Analytics, the Iran war has cost U.S. households an average of $2,000 each, with the highest impact coming from higher gasoline prices and increases in the cost of items shipped by trucks reliant on diesel. [Forbes, 10/18/26]

CNN - Get ready for a 30% jump in heating oil costs this winter as Iran war drives up prices - The Marine Corps veteran has been closely watching the cost of home heating oil, which has soared recently along with crude oil, diesel fuel and gasoline prices, as the US-Iran war drags on. [CNN, 10/13/26]

ABC - Gas prices set record for highest number of days above $4 a gallon in a calendar year - The national average gas price has topped $4 a gallon for a total of 158 days in 2026, setting a record for the largest number of days ever recorded above $4 in a calendar year, GasBuddy petroleum analyst Patrick De Haan said in a post on X on Wednesday. The Iran war caused gasoline prices to surge after fighting in the Strait of Hormuz prompted a historic oil supply shock. [ABC, 10/14/26]

NYT - Iran War Cost Rises to $47.1 Billion, Pentagon Told Lawmakers - The cost of the war in Iran rose to $47.1 billion through Oct. 16, with bombs, missiles and other munitions accounting for more than 60 percent of the expenses, the Pentagon told Congress last week. [NYT, 10/27/26]

Everything you bring home costs more because of Trump's tariff taxes. His tariffs alone will cost families more than $1,000 a year. Trump's tariffs on lumber, steel, and cabinets are also adding an estimated $17,500 to the cost of building a new home, which could mean 450,000 fewer homes built by 2030, a deeper housing shortage, and home prices soaring even higher.

CNBC - Inflation on many everyday items was entirely due to tariffs, NY Fed says - The New York Fed found that "by February 2026, tariffs had contributed 2.9 percentage points to goods price inflation." [CNBC, 10/8/26]

Good Morning America - Tariffs will cost US households over $1,000 a year, Yale Budget Lab says - The nonpartisan Yale Budget Lab found that "tariffs will cost the typical American household more than $1,000 per year." [GMA, 8/25/26]

Fox News - American-made goods also got more expensive under Trump tariffs, new research finds - Americans aren't just seeing the price tag increase for imported goods…In fact, the research finds that prices for many everyday goods would have fallen last year and into early 2026 without Trump's tariffs. [Fox News, 10/14/26]

Newsweek - How US-Canada Trade War Could Deepen America's Housing Crisis - These tariffs are putting additional pressure on the U.S. construction sector, which has faced rising costs in recent years and diminishing returns as demand for housing dwindles across the country due to the ongoing affordability crisis. [Newsweek, 8/27/26]

Groceries cost more, and food assistance is disappearing. Families have spent more than $300 extra on groceries, and prices on staples are soaring: ground beef prices have risen nearly every month to a record $7 a pound, and coffee has spiked to $9 a pound. More than 5 million people-including more than 1.5 million children-have lost their food assistance.

WTTW - Beef Prices Rise as US Cattle Herd Remains Near Historic Low - Ground beef averaged $7.16 a pound in August, up 7.9 percent from a year earlier and more than double the overall inflation rate. [WTTW, 9/17/26]

PBS - Cuts to SNAP benefits push many Americans to seek help from food banks - More than five million people have lost their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits since President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill passed last year. The bill cut SNAP funding, expanded work requirements and recently pushed more program costs to states. [PBS, 10/13/26]

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities - SNAP Tracker: People Are Losing Food Assistance as the Harmful 2025 Republican Reconciliation Law Is Implemented - In the 28 states with publicly available data or that have shared unpublished data, the number of children receiving SNAP has fallen by 1.5 million since July 2025. It's very likely that nationwide, the number of children receiving SNAP has dropped by about 2 million since July 2025. [CBPP, 10/23/26]

Business Insider - Get ready for grocery prices to get even more painful - Grocery bills had begun to stabilize after a bruising stretch of inflation. Now, rising fuel and transportation costs threaten to make that relief short-lived....Grocery chain Albertson's said on an earnings call Tuesday that its business is being squeezed by higher gas prices for US shoppers and higher diesel prices in its operations. [Business Insider, 10/15/26]

Republicans cut health care to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest. Americans who get their coverage on the ACA marketplace saw their premiums jump 20 percent in 2026, and costs are set to rise by double digits again for 2027 coverage. More than 5 million Americans have already had their health care ripped away-with more than 10 million more projected to lose it in the coming years-and hospitals and health centers are closing across the country.

Florida Phoenix - Trump tax law runs up deficit by $3.4T, throws 10 million off health insurance, CBO says - The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found the law will "lead 10 million people to lose access to health insurance." [Florida Phoenix, 7/21/25]

KFF - How much and why ACA Marketplace premiums are going up in 2027 - ACA Marketplaces insurers are proposing a median premium increase of 15% in 2027, according to KFF's updated analysis of 276 insurers with publicly available filings across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. This is the second consecutive year of double-digit premium hikes. [KFF, 8/3/26]

The Guardian - US maternity wards face wave of closures as Medicaid cuts kick in- Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' spending cuts will be fully felt next year, but hospitals are already feeling the squeeze… Experts are expecting to see more closures of maternity units in the run-up to and after the federal changes to Medicaid come into effect in the new year. [The Guardian, 10/11/26]

The City Reporter - 'Double Squeeze': New York Safety Net Frays Amid SNAP and Medicaid Cuts - New work requirements and a hefty cut in federal aid for health insurance mean more New Yorkers are going to food pantries - and doing without health insurance. [The City Reporter, 9/9/26]

Wages aren't keeping up, and the jobs are disappearing. Despite Trump's promises of a manufacturing boom, the U.S. has lost more than 100,000 manufacturing jobs. Job growth is anemic-hiring slowed to just 29,000 jobs in September-and wages are falling behind inflation, giving families less purchasing power.

Los Angeles Times - Factory workers blame Trump's tariffs for lost jobs - As if an unpopular war with Iran and persistent inflation were not enough trouble for Republicans, they are confronting a backlash over the tariffs that Trump made a cornerstone of his economic agenda. He promised that charging higher taxes on imports would spur a factory renaissance in the United States, but that has not come to pass. [LA Times, 10/13/26]

Yahoo Finance - Steve Rattner Says Manufacturing Has Lost 100,000 Jobs Despite Trump's Tariffs - BLS data show about 113,000 manufacturing jobs lost from November 2024 through June 2026. [Yahoo Finance, 7/8/26]

WaPo - Another disappointing jobs report suggests more challenges for Trump, GOP - The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2 percent while wages continued to lag behind inflation in the government's final jobs report before the Nov. 3 midterm election. [WaPo, 10/2/26]

Canary Media - US clean energy jobs fell in 2025 for the first time in years - Employment in the sector dipped in Donald Trump's first year back in office - and many more expected jobs won't materialize thanks to canceled clean energy projects. [Canary Media, 10/16/26]

Your Neighborhood: Main Street Is Paying the Price

Small businesses and family farms are getting squeezed. In communities across the country, soaring tariffs, fuel costs, and interest rates are squeezing local businesses and farmers. Small businesses are being forced to raise prices and let workers go, harming local communities. Farmers are paying more for fuel, fertilizer, and equipment, while Trump's trade wars cost them customers.

Colorado Biz - Survey: Small businesses cut jobs and raise prices due to tariffs across the US - In a survey of small businesses in 40 states, 83 percent said they raised prices because of tariffs, and many took on debt or dipped into personal savings to stay afloat. [Colorado Biz, 7/23/26]

Reuters - Last year, small US firms faced notable tariff price pressures, Fed report finds- "The most common challenge" faced by these smaller firms in 2025 was the rising cost of goods, services and wages, the 12 regional Fed banks collectively said as part of the 2025 Small Business Credit Survey. [Reuters, 3/3/26]

TIME - How Trump's Policies Are Testing Farmers' Loyalty Ahead of Midterms - Tariffs on key inputs added about $2.6 billion in costs for crop farmers, starter fertilizer jumped from $600 to nearly $1,000 a ton, and diesel topped $6.52 a gallon. [TIME, 10/12/26]

PBS - Already under financial pressure, farmers squeezed further by tariffs and Iran war - "It looks like we're going to have another year of negative returns," a North Dakota soybean grower said. [PBS, 4/13/26]

###