Donald Trump’s Project 2025-sponsored Republican National Convention’s kickoff in Milwaukee rewrote the history of Trump’s handling of the economy during his first term in office. Trump failed on the economy as the only sitting president to leave office with fewer American jobs than when he was sworn in.
Trump’s unnecessary trade wars, tax scams for the wealthy, and poor handling of the COVID-19 pandemic cratered the economy and made it even harder for working families to make ends meet.
Sixteen Nobel economists warned Trump’s plans for the economy in a second term could cause lasting harm to the global economy. Additionally, projections suggest that the combination of Trump’s proposed tariffs would raise taxes on everything from food and clothes to electronics and energy, costing working families up to $2,500 each year. Trump wishes to enact an economic plan in his second term that would add $4.6 million to the national debt over a decade.
Get the facts on Trump’s failures on the economy:
- Under Donald Trump, the economy lost 2.9 million jobs, earning him the worst jobs record of any president in history.
- In four years under Trump, unemployment grew from 1.6% to 6.3%, levels not seen since 1999.
- Economists said Trump’s unnecessary trade war put the American manufacturing industry into a “recession,” and wages decreased for manufacturing workers by 4.33%.
- Trump’s tariffs led to the hemorrhaging of steel industry jobs. By the end of his first term, there were 2,000 fewer workers in the steel industry than when he was sworn in.
- Under the Trump administration, the trade deficit rose over 40% and set a record as the worst ever in U.S. history.
- Trump’s tariffs decreased employment by at least 166,000 jobs and cost American companies $46 billion between 2018 and 2020.
- After countries issued retaliatory tariffs, exports of U.S. goods fell by 23% and failed to recover after the tariffs were lifted. Rural Americans suffered greatly from retaliatory tariffs which resulted in reduced employment in crop production, transportation, warehousing, and other industry sectors.
- American companies paid the price for Trump’s trade war. Between 2018 and 2020, Trump’s tariffs cost American companies an estimated $46 billion. Trump’s tariffs forced American importers to drive up the price of major home appliances, furniture, auto parts, home-building, luggage, imported alcohol, and U.S. whiskey distillers to cover the cost of pricey imports.
- Trump is a huge proponent of outsourcing jobs and saw an increased amount of jobs outsourced to other countries during his presidency.
- The national debt increased by 50% under Trump’s first term with the largest annual deficit in U.S. history occurring in 2020.
- Consumer costs rose under the Trump administration:
- Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran Nuclear Deal increased gas prices and the price of oil rose 32% during Trump’s last month in office.
- Insurance costs rose thanks to the Trump administration chipping away at consumer protections of the Affordable Care Act.
- The cost of major appliances rose 10%.
- Trump’s tariffs added $1 billion to the costs of U.S. housing construction.
- Food and alcohol costs increased due Trump’s trade war.
- Trump’s 2017 tax plan was written to favor the richest Americans and wealthy corporations and added $1.9 trillion to the national debt.
- The Trump administration oversaw 16 bank failures from 2017 to 2020
- According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a record 20.5 million people abruptly lost their jobs in April 2020 as businesses closed or severely reduced operations to try to limit the spread of COVID-19 – something the Trump administration failed to do.
- A decade of employment gains vanished in a single month under Trump, nearly double the jobs lost during the entire 2007-2009 financial crisis. Trump’s failure to address the pandemic sent U.S. unemployment up to 14.7% in April 2020.
Published: Jul 16, 2024