Donald Trump Has the Worst Economic Record in Modern U.S. History
August 9, 2023
Donald Trump is once again trying to distract from his horrible economic record, but he can’t run away from the truth: a historically terrible jobs record, higher costs, disastrous trade policy, and tax handouts for big corporations and the top 1% are hallmarks of his time in office. Meanwhile, President Biden continues to deliver for Americans by growing the economy from the bottom up and middle out, leading a domestic manufacturing boom, and helping to create a record number of good-paying jobs.
Trump left office with the worst jobs numbers of any president since the Great Depression.
Fortune: “Trump to leave office with the worst jobs record since Herbert Hoover”
Washington Post: “President Trump took office at the crest of the longest economic expansion in U.S. history. He leaves presiding over the worst labor market in modern U.S. history, as an already-sputtering economic recovery has turned negative.”
Under Trump’s watch, health care costs increased.
Center for American Progress: “During his 2016 campaign, President Donald Trump repeatedly said he was for ‘insurance for everybody’ and promised to ‘take care of everybody’ and to lower costs. Almost four years later, the Trump administration’s record falls far short of these promises: The number of uninsured Americans has swelled, his administration has chipped away at the consumer protections guaranteed by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), costs have risen for Americans with marketplace plans, and the nation is mired in a public health crisis.”
Trump let hardworking American families suffer while rigging the economy for big corporations and the ultra-wealthy, causing the national debt to balloon by HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS of dollars.
Forbes: “Trump Tax Cuts Helped Billionaires Pay Less Taxes Than The Working Class In 2018”
CBS News: “Two years after Trump tax cuts, middle-class Americans are falling behind”
NPR: “After 2 Years, Trump Tax Cuts Have Failed To Deliver On GOP’s Promises”
The Guardian: “They were billed as a ‘middle-class miracle’ but according to a new book Donald Trump’s $1.5tn tax cuts have helped billionaires pay a lower rate than the working class for the first time in history.”
New York Times Opinion: “President Trump’s 2017 tax cut, which was largely a handout to the rich … helped push the tax rate on the 400 wealthiest households below the rates for almost everyone else.”
Washington Post Analysis: “One of President Donald Trump’s lesser-known but profoundly damaging legacies will be the explosive rise in the national debt that occurred on his watch. The financial burden that he’s inflicted on our government will wreak havoc for decades, saddling our kids and grandkids with debt. The national debt has risen by almost $7.8 trillion during Trump’s time in office.”
Although Trump made endless promises to stop offshoring, his tax law created new incentives for companies to ship jobs overseas and left American workers behind.
Washington Post: “Trump promised ‘America First’ would keep jobs here. But the tax plan might push them overseas.”
Reuters: “Donald Trump won the U.S. presidency four years ago, in part, by a promise to Midwest factory workers that he would stop companies like Schneider Electric SE from moving jobs out of the country. He didn’t stop them.”
Bloomberg: “The Offshoring of U.S. Jobs Increased on Trump’s Watch”
Trump started a reckless trade war that hurt the American manufacturing industry.
CNN: “Trump promised to win the trade war with China. He failed”
Time: “Trump’s Trade War Is Costing Americans $3 Billion a Month in Higher Taxes, Study Says”
PIIE: “China bought none of the extra $200 billion of US exports in Trump’s trade deal”
Wall Street Journal: “China Trade War Didn’t Boost U.S. Manufacturing Might”
MEANWHILE, Bidenomics is delivering for American families to the tune of millions of new jobs.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: President Biden helped create over 8 million more jobs in his first 30 full months in office than Trump did.
President Biden is leading a domestic manufacturing boom nationwide — bringing hundreds of thousands of factory jobs back home from overseas.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: President Biden helped create 790,000 manufacturing jobs during his first 30 full months in office, more than the 460,000 created under Trump in the comparable time period.
Americans are getting back to work thanks to President Biden — labor force participation increased after Trump left office and prime working age labor force participation under President Biden is higher than at any point in Trump’s presidency.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Labor force participation was 62.6% in July 2023, compared to 61.3% in January 2021.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Prime working age labor force participation was 83.4% in July 2023 compared to a peak of 83.1% under Trump in January 2020.
President Biden’s economic agenda is working, all while reducing the deficit.
Associated Press: “In addition to deficit reduction, Biden’s 10-year budget largely revolves around the idea of taxing the wealthy to help fund programs for the middle class, older adults and families. It would raise $4.7 trillion from higher taxes, with an additional $800 billion in savings from changes to programs. The tax increases include a reversal of the 2017 tax cuts made by President Donald Trump on people earning more than $400,000 a year. Biden has floated a new 25% minimum tax on households worth $100 million or more. Also, the tax that companies pay on stock buybacks would rise fourfold and those earning more than $400,000 would pay an additional Medicare tax that would help to keep the program solvent beyond the year 2050.”