The first year of Donald Trump’s second term has been a disaster for working families, farmers, and small businesses. Trump’s reckless economic agenda has caused crushing inflation and skyrocketing prices, while Trump hands out massive tax cuts to billionaires and protects the rich and powerful, as everyday Americans struggle to make ends meet. Trump and his cronies have sold out the American people for personal gain — building gilded ballrooms, receiving participation trophies, and lining the Trump family’s pockets — while failing to deliver on the promises he made to voters more than a year ago. 

In response, DNC Communications Director Rosemary Boeglin released the following statement:

“Donald Trump’s second term has been defined by a self-serving, reckless agenda. In his first year, everyday Americans have faced soaring inflation, widespread layoffs, and a worsening health care crisis. And where has Trump been? Building his gilded ballroom, hosting lavish dinners for his billionaire buddies, and using his office to help himself and the ultrawealthy and well-connected. Trump’s failures are piling up, and voters are fed up — they won’t forget who he really serves when they go to the polls next November.” 

The Big, Ugly Bill
Trump’s so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” gave billionaires massive tax cuts while making the largest cuts to health care and food assistance in history — including $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid, putting over 300 rural hospitals at risk of shutting down. 

Reckless Tariffs & A Chaotic Trade War
Trump’s disastrous tariffs have taken a wrecking ball to the economy, spiking inflation and hollowing out the job market. His “tariff man” agenda is leaving small businesses and consumers in the lurch and has cost tens of thousands of American manufacturing jobs. The average American family has already paid nearly $1,200 in tariff costs. 

Skyrocketing Health Care 
After shutting down the government for over 40 days and holding food assistance hostage for more than 16 million hungry children, Trump and Republican leaders have refused to extend the enhanced Affordable Care Act premium tax credits, which are set to expire in just two weeks. If Republicans fail to extend the subsidies, more than 20 million Americans will see their health care premiums skyrocket by an average of 114%. 

Rising Inflation
Despite Trump claiming he would end inflation on “Day One,” prices are rising at a faster pace than when he took office. CPI and PCE inflation are soaring, and everyday Americans are struggling to afford basic necessities. 

Hollowed-Out Job Market
Trump’s disastrous economic policies have hollowed out the job market, leaving millions of Americans unable to find good-paying jobs. In November, the unemployment rate rose to a staggering 4.6%, the highest since September 2021. U.S. employers have announced nearly 1.2 MILLION job cuts in 2025 alone, and the manufacturing sector has shed 58,000 jobs since Trump took office, despite him promising a “manufacturing renaissance.” 

The “Argentina First” Bailout
While American farmers are driven to the brink of bankruptcy by Trump’s reckless trade war, Trump and his Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent secured tens of billions of dollars for Argentina’s economy, even as Argentina undercut American farmers in the global marketplace. 

The Epstein Cover Up
Donald Trump promised to release the Epstein files, but his administration is doing everything in their power to stonewall the release of the files, despite the public calling for their release. Trump’s White House even tried to redact Trump’s name from the Epstein files, while his Justice Department was doing favors for convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell. 

Gilded Ballroom
Trump’s “main priority” throughout his second term has been demolishing the East Wing of the White House to build his $400 million gold ballroom — hosting lavish fundraisers and raking in donations from his billionaire friends to fund the renovations. 

Political Pardons 
Trump has protected the rich and powerful over everyday Americans, pardoning political allies and ultrawealthy friends, including more than 1,500 people convicted or charged in connection with the January 6th insurrection. He also pardoned criminal money-launderer Changpeng Zhao, the founder of the crypto exchange Binance, who built ties with the Trump family’s crypto start-up. Trump even pardoned former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who conspired with some of the worst drug traffickers in the world to bring more than 400 tons of cocaine into the United States. 

Trump Family Fortune
The Trump family has pocketed more than $1.8 BILLION since the 2024 election, including $1.2 billion in crypto earnings. Trump has used the presidency to benefit foreign nations invested in his family businesses.  He sealed deals with Saudi Arabia after the country invested billions in Trump family ventures and gave the UAE access to U.S. chips at the same time his crypto firm scored a UAE deal worth tens of millions. 

DOGE’s Reckless Cuts 
Trump and Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” gutted key services and agencies, including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), a move which researchers estimate has already caused 600,000 deaths globally, two-thirds of them children. DOGE’s cuts to the VA have had detrimental impacts on veterans seeking treatment and disrupted studies for patients seeking experimental treatments. Despite promising to eliminate government waste, DOGE has generated at least $21.7 BILLION in wasteful spending, including layoff blunders that forced the hiring back of hundreds of critical, laid-off employees. 

Children’s Health  
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has injected his anti-vax agenda into the Department of Health and Human Services, endangering children’s health and sowing chaos and confusion among parents. After he replaced all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and installed his own hand-picked panel, the committee voted to end the universal recommendation for the hepatitis B vaccine for newborns, which experts slammed for stoking fears about the safety and efficacy of vaccines.