US consumer confidence drops unexpectedly to near-recession levels ahead of Trump’s 2nd term

https://www.businessinsider.com/consumer-confidence-recession-signal-trump-tariffs-politics-inflation-2024-12

45 comments

  1. That’s what happens when a guy whose main policy is increase the cost of all goods by 25-60% gets elected. I’m fucking scared.

  3. Weird, because I thought people were all jazzed the fuck up for him to “fix” the economy. Isn’t that why they voted for him?

  4. America SHOULD be scared sh#tless at Trump gaining presidency. He has far too many bankruptcies. losses, frauds, thefts cons, and questionably legal deals to EVER be trusted. America is in for a HUUUUUUGE crash. “How do you like me now?” will echo across America and most of 77 million people will cry huge crocodile tears about “government” but not blame Trump because that means THEY WERE WRONG!

  7. “Unexpectedly” only if you ignore all politics.

  8. Trump campaigned on tariffs, mass deportation, and a concept of a plan to replace ACA. Trump has came out and said that bringing prices down is alot harder than he thought. So people must have realized prices are going to stay the same or rise. I don’t know if they still believe mass deportation is still going to happen, but alot of stories have come out talking about the impact it would have on the economy and that it’s pretty impossible to pull off. I doubt anyone thinks about replacing ACA, but some stories have come out talking about Republicans wanting to get rid of social security, Medicare, and medicaid to pay for the tax breaks being given to the richest people. After all that, do you feel confident?

  10. That drop happened because the average American consumer is worried that the Deep State Caribou Toucan Conspiracy will successfully block the United States of Trumpistan from rightfully annexing Greenland and re-annexing the Panama Canal Zone. Trump needs to show he is tough and unafraid by invading both of those historic US provinces no later than Day 3. MAGA, MGGA, MCZGA! Let’s roll!

  12. What happened, y’all? Spend a bit too much on a record-breaking Black Friday just a couple weeks after you voted against “Biden’s awful economy”?

  13. Because suddenly Americans remembered his first term and bird flu around the corner.

  14. I’ve been spending extra, hoping to shield us from tariffs and rising food prices when there’s no one to harvest produce or process meat. Bird flu could be another pressure on pricing.

  16. Yeah if anything this election cycle was an intelligence test and we found out that half the US is not very bright and as always many folks just don’t vote (but of course having election day among other things not be a holiday at least for some goddamn reason also doesn’t help out)

  18. Enjoy Christmas this year, folks. Call me cynical, but I have a feeling Santa is gonna be taking the next 4 years off when Trump’s tariffs hit…

  19. >The potential for tariffs to boost US jobs, one of Trump’s main selling points, doesn’t appear to be helping consumers feel more optimistic. Just 21% of respondents said they expected tariffs to create more US jobs, the Conference Board said.

    [Checks out](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7lxwFEB6FI)

  20. Unexpectedly…. Or exactly like anyone who bothered to pay attention to campaign platforms could have told you months ago?

  21. We are freaking idiots. We vote for Trump despite Biden’s excellent economic work then immediately freak out when we see that Trump won. Yeah, Trump will prolly wreck the place and yeah we chose this.

  22. It’s like that thought experiment where a bunch of people are tied to a streetcar track and you can throw a switch to move the train to a different track. Only there’s no switch and no second track.

  23. Voting for the guy that wants to add tarifs to everything and deport millions of people. Then being like … “did I just fuck up” … yeah Carl, you just fucked us all so you could … check notes … “have cheaper eggs”

  24. Unexpectedly? Trump and Musk are both advocating tariff policies that will, by Musk’s admission, cause economic troubles. I am impressed that most consumers see that.

  25. Ah yes, the sound of 77 million people finally getting around to googling “What are tariffs?”

  26. Those with brains know what is coming. A repeat of Hoover and his Republicans with their disastrous tariffs (Smoot-Hawley) in 1930.

    In 4 years, our economy will be a dumpster fire (again) because of Trump. Oh well.

  27. In the timeless words of John Lydon, “this is what you want… this is what you get”.

  28. I had at least 5 people tell me they were voting Trump because of the economy. I didn’t have the energy to explain it to them because I’d rather not argue with my coworkers.

  31. Wait, I thought he was going to fix the economy?

    Unless that was just a lie to get into office. And that doesn’t sound like something the compulsive liar Trump would do to his fellow Americans.

  32. Unexpectedly? In pre election rallies, he promised economic pain if elected.

  34. His 2 weeks healthcare plan turned into a concept of a plan 9 years later.
    Why did anyone think this dumbass, who managed to bankrupt 6 casinos, has any clue on how he’d reduce grocery prices??
    Or not crash an economy for that matter.

  35. “I wanna trash the economy and make myself dirt poor! I’m gonna vote for Trump!”

  36. Gawd damn. It’s not like he didn’t broadcast what he was going to do. People are so fucking stupid. Harris: “I want to help you buy a house.” (really was one of her ideas). Trump: “I want to kick you in the nuts every day for four years.” America: “Go Trump!” My gawd, this country is full up on morons.

  37. Unexpectedly for who, exactly? Once the media lost the Biden admin as a punching bag the electorate finally had no choice but to do some very, very light reading about Trump and realized he’s economic poison. Quite literally all it took for non-political people to realize Trump will be a disaster was the media laying off Biden for a few weeks. If that’s not a damning indictment of modern “journalism,” then what the fuck is?

    Edit: It wasn’t even all about unfair coverage of Biden, honestly. It was also a shitload of coverage about how voters “feel” instead of coverage about the absolute shit show Trump was promising. Who gives a fuck about how a bunch of uninformed voters feel? Like seriously, every time you have one moron on tv talking about how Trump will be a good president because he’s a business man, you’re giving permission to 10 other morons to believe the first moron. It’s not “straight reporting” to platform idiocy.

  38. That’s what happens when people finally google what tariffs are.

  39. No shit. You’ve got a madman trying to take over every other country and can’t even handle his own business let alone the issues of an entire country. He’s so hyperfocused on transgenders and names of mountains that he doesn’t give a single shit about issues other than himself or corporate interests. He’s also controlled by an African billionaire who ALSO doesn’t give a shit about the average American he wants to shut the country down for a month over a fucking mantrum.

    This country is going to be all the worse for it, and quite frankly I’m concerned we won’t ever recover from the harm they’re going to cause to our image, our economy, our environment, and our people. It’s scary as shit and half the fucking country doesn’t seem to honestly give a shit as long as libs get owned.

    The guy nominated an actual pedophile (or whatever it’s called) for AG, and all across twitter I see “we stand with you” because he’s a god damned “political victim”. That’s horseshit. There’s another pandemic level flu going around and the moron who’s gonna run the CDC thinks vaccines are bullshit and raw milk (known to spread the illness), is ok!?

    The guy in charge is a moron, surrounded by morons, and nobody seems to give a fuck. It’s tragic and terrifying.

  40. I don’t fucking care. Voters were warned that prices would go up and warned about Trump’s bankruptcies and his terrible history with financial issues. They voted for this so this is what they fucking deserve if this needs to happen for voters to learn elections have consequences then so fucking be it

  42. “Unexpectedly”? Of course consumer confidence is tanking. Even the people who voted for him are realizing that between the tariffs, the rolling back of Biden-era manufacturing grants, and suddenly removing 4 million people from the work-force (according to Steven Miller), the economy is about to rapidly transition into a recession. Possibly a full-on depression.

    That’s not to mention all the other stuff he’s saying he’s going to do. Removing EV grants and preventing government agencies from buying EV? That’s going to hurt a lot of US companies that have been tooling up their EV-related manufacturing. Rolling back student loan forgiveness? Here you go folks, welcome back to crushing debt that you are no longer budgeted for. Privatizing USPS? Oh neat, all mail and a heck of a lot of package shipping is about to get a whole lot pricier. Cutting Social Security and Medicare benefits? Guess 30% of the U.S. population is going to have to figure out how to pay for their new “cheaper eggs” with much less money coming in every month and more going out for medical expenses.

    Bottom line is that Trump has no idea how an actual economy works. He’s a glorified builder that managed to convince gullible people that he’s some kind of financial genius who makes his money by negotiating “deals”.

  43. I’m sorry all the people voting for Trump were saying the economy was so bad and it was Biden’s fault and billionaires were the key to fixing the economy. This is what America voted for/ stayed home so not sure what the problem is. /s

  44. This is fucking stupid. It’s honestly like people didn’t know an election was coming and that the choice was so clear-cut, yet… here we are. Unreal.

  45. So the people who voted for him have no confidence in him. Sounds very American.

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