Working Families Are Getting Crushed By Trump’s Failing Economy

Today marks one year since Donald Trump’s second term began, and his first year back in office has been nothing short of a disaster for working families, farmers, and small businesses. His presidency can be defined by one slogan: Trump first, Americans last. 

Trump has used the presidency to enrich himself and his family, line the pockets of his wealthy donors, and enrich big corporations by intervening in other countries’ affairs, while destroying the job market, driving up costs for food, rent, utilities, and health care, and failing to lower inflation. Instead of delivering on his promise to lower prices on “Day One,” Trump has taken a wrecking ball to the economy while repeatedly calling affordability a “hoax,” “fake,” and declaring that “inflation is defeated.” 

Democrats are committed to lowering costs for working families and delivering for the American people. House Democrats successfully passed two discharge petitions on issues that are top of mind for Americans: one to release the entirety of the Epstein Files — amid Trump’s months-long stonewalling — and one to extend the enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits after Trump and Republicans allowed them to expire at the end of last year. Democratic attorneys general filed over 70 lawsuits against the Trump administration and have restored billions of dollars in federal funding for health care, education, and other vital services for their states. Across the country, Democrats won elections up and down the ballot — from gubernatorial races to city councils — and have overperformed in nearly 90% of elections throughout the past year. 

In response, DNC Chair Ken Martin released the following statement: 

“In just one year, Donald Trump has tanked the economy, sent prices soaring, decimated the job market, and left families everywhere struggling to make ends meet. His ‘signature achievement,’ the Big Ugly Bill, took an axe to health care and stole food from tables, all to give massive tax handouts to his ultrawealthy donors. In Trump’s first year, the billionaires got a lot richer — those guys are better off than ever — but are you? Trump has spent his time in office building a $400 million gilded ballroom, hosting lavish dinners at Mar-a-Lago, falling asleep during meetings, and spending taxpayer dollars bombing other countries. 

“Today, millions of Americans are deciding whether to pay for food or rent, whether they’ll be able to put off that car repair for another month after their health insurance costs doubled, or whether their aging parents will ever be able to retire. But Trump calls their fears a hoax. Republicans should be prepared to face the consequences in the midterms because our Democratic candidates are listening and ready to step up, and what we’re hearing is that voters are fed up, pissed off, and sick of Trump’s BS.” 

After just one year, nearly 70% of working families are living paycheck to paycheck, as the cost of living continues to surge. According to a new report, families paid $310 more overall for groceries during Trump’s first year, despite Trump claiming just last week that “grocery prices are starting to go rapidly down.” Under Trump’s watch, the job market has also taken a nosedive, as U.S. employers announced more than 1.2 MILLION job cuts in 2025, and manufacturers have lost 63,000 jobs. 

Everyday Americans are bracing for the worst impacts of Trump’s Big Ugly Bill, which made the largest cuts to Medicaid and SNAP in history, while providing permanent tax breaks to the ultrawealthy. To rub salt in the wound, Trump and congressional Republicans refused to extend the enhanced Affordable Care Act premium tax credits at the end of last year, hiking premium costs for more than 20 million Americans by an average of 114%. 

It’s no wonder a majority of Americans disapprove of Trump’s job performance, and nearly 70% disapprove of his handling of the economy. Americans are also twice as likely to say that Trump has been focused on the wrong priorities, and 6-in-10 adults say that Trump has done more to hurt the cost of living in his first year than help.