President Donald Trump and the GOP’s economic proposals so far are actually worsening the American economy
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Donald Trump has been president for more than a month and Americans remain concerned about the economy.
Worries about several key economic indicators are on the rise among Americans, and recent reports of worsening inflation should raise questions about Trump’s ability to handle our economic crisis.
While Trump’s die-hard fans are surely fine with his MAGA antics, the swing voters who delivered Republicans the election need to see results soon on the economy, the only thing that matters. While the economic woes aren’t to the extreme that they were post-COVID-19, reports indicate that consumer sentiment is the worst it’s been since August 2021, in the midst of President Joe Biden administration’s inflation crisis.
Trump won reelection on economy. He’s failing at that already.
The GOP electorate voted for a reactionary response to the Biden administration. The early weeks of the second Trump administration have been dominated by culture war executive orders, Elon Musk’s cost-cutting antics and Trump trolling Democrats as much as possible. The core MAGA voters are probably thrilled by what’s happened so far. That’s what they wanted.
None of that will help improve the economy.
In light of January’s surprisingly high inflation numbers, which Trump has declined any responsibility for, Americans have renewed their concerns and, by connection, their desire for something to be done.
This week, Trump has threatened 25% tariffs on the European Union, in addition to his threats against Canada, Mexico and China. These policies serve as nothing more than a tax on Americans, with experts estimating them to amount to cost the average American family hundreds.
Even the proposed GOP budget doesn’t do enough. While it does slash government spending, it does so to renew Trump’s first-term tax cuts as well as implement some new ones. The proposal, which has already passed the House of Representatives, actually would worsen the looming debt crisis.
Trump and the GOP’s economic proposals thus far are actually hurting the American economy, despite their promise to fix the mess that Biden left America in.
If Republicans don’t fix the economy, Democrats will gain ground
Trump’s poll rating remains low, with just 45% of Americans approving of the job he has done. That percentage is lower than any other president at this point in their term since 1953, with the sole exception of Trump during his first term.
He is starting from a weak point, and in a volatile time for world politics, the pendulum will likely swing back the other way if he cannot deliver on core issues.
Republicans’ election success in 2026 and 2028 fully depends on their ability to get the economy under control. They said for four years that Biden was the sole cause of America’s weak economy. If the GOP now struggles, Americans will have little reason to put up with Trump’s antics.
In the last year and a half of Biden’s presidency, inflation returned to ordinary levels, but his administration struggled to sell Americans on that message. But if fears of inflation due to Trump’s tariffs materialize, he’ll likely wear that mark until the end of his second presidency.
The economy isn’t the only reason Trump won, but it was the largest single issue helping his case. Presidents almost always bear the brunt of the blame for a weak economy, regardless of how much of the crisis is actually their fault.
Whether economic worries are truly the fault of the GOP or not doesn’t actually matter. If they continue, Republicans will be blamed by voters, and the mandate that Trump claims will quickly disappear.
The GOP has to make progress on the economy. If Republicans fail, they’re in for a difficult upcoming election cycle.
Dace Potas is an opinion columnist for USA TODAY and a graduate of DePaul University with a degree in political science.