MEMORANDUM
TO: Interested Parties
FROM: DNC War Room
DATE: July 18, 2025
RE: Trump at the Six-Month Mark: Americans Are Worse Off 

President Ronald Reagan once famously asked Americans, “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?”

Now we’re asking the same question of Donald Trump: “Are you better off today than you were six months ago?” 

Unless you’re a billionaire licking your lips over a tax windfall or a CEO receiving fat government contracts from the Trump administration, the answer is a definitive no. And Americans are now waking up to the harsh reality that life under Trump won’t be getting better, only worse. 

To say that Trump has failed to deliver a “true golden age” for America in his first six months in office would be an understatement. Trump has dragged our economy through the mud in the name of “dealmaking,” which has skyrocketed prices for household goods, forced businesses to plan for recession, created enormous volatility in the stock market, and thrown small businesses and family farms into a tailspin. Trump’s erratic trade agenda has received appalling reviews from economists, business experts, and analysts. Trump has failed to fully implement a trade deal and moved his self-imposed deadline once again. Inflation increased in June by the fastest rate since Trump took office, as energy, gas, and grocery prices continue to rise and economists warn of “economic weakness.”

Trump’s chaotic trade policies are just the beginning. This month, Trump signed his billionaire-first budget that pays for tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy on the backs of working Americans. 

Trump’s billionaire-first budget will:

• Rip away health care from 17 million Americans by making the largest cut to Medicaid in American history. 
• Put over 300 rural hospitals at risk of shutting down, making Americans who live in rural areas drive farther and farther to seek lifesaving care.
• Force at least 1 in 4 nursing homes to close their doors.  
• Threaten more than 22 million working families’food assistance. 

The American public is increasingly angry and opposed to Trump’s agenda:

• Only one-quarter of U.S. adults say that Trump’s policies have helped them since he took office.
• Just 4 in 10 American adults approve of Trump’s job performance — a historically weak showing at this point in a presidential term.
• 56% of Americans admit that Trump doesn’t understand the problems facing people like them. 
• A majority (63%) of Americans think Trump hasn’t paid enough attention to the country’s most important issues. 
• 60% of Americans disapprove of his handling of the economy. 
• Roughly 6 in 10 Americans oppose Trump’s billionaire-first budget — his so-called signature accomplishment. 

Whether it’s his broken promise to bring down costs or to release the Epstein files, more and more Americans are realizing that Trump will never keep his word. In his first six months, Trump has dramatically slowed the economy, tanked financial markets more than once, and undermined consumer confidence — bringing our country closer and closer to an economic crisis. Trump’s actions are causing profound harm, and that’s why Democrats are showing on TrumpTax.com exactly how Americans have been impacted.

Over the last six months, Democrats have completed 138 People’s Town Halls in all 50 states, won or overperformed in 34 out of 35 key races in 2025 — generating significant momentum in the off-year. The DNC is launching “organizing summer” to engage volunteers early and meet voters where they are. With an eye toward the midterms, the DNC is making investments early, sending more money to local and state parties than ever before. Democrats are putting in the work to capture voters’ energy, drive our message, and mobilize an army of empowered voters ready to reject Trump’s record of broken promises and chaos and elect Democrats up and down the ballot now.