Prices, unemployment up: Even Fox News poll shows voters think Trump screwed economy | Opinion

President Donald Trump promised Americans a new Golden Age. But eight months into his second term, grocery prices are rising, along with inflation and unemployment. Long-term unemployment has reached a post-pandemic high. Farmers are struggling mightily to find workers and cope with massive export losses caused by the president’s sweeping tariffs.

This is a weird-looking Golden Age.

While billionaires and wealthy folks are clicking along nicely, the rest of us have yet to see a lick of good economic news. As Axios reported recently: “Virtually all major grocery categories are now more expensive than they were a year ago, some substantially so.”

Trump promised to lower grocery prices, but they're higher now

Ground beef prices are up 13% over last August, beef steaks are up more than 16%, apples are up 9.6% and coffee prices have jumped more than 20%.

Even egg prices – you know the thing that was a huge deal during the presidential election – are up almost 11% over last August.

How is this possible? Trump said he’d fix food prices right away. He said he’d wipe out inflation.

But Bureau of Labor Statistics data from August showed an annual inflation rate of 2.9%, the highest it has been since January. Jobless claims jumped dramatically in August to the highest level we’ve seen since late 2021.

Farmers are getting walloped by Trump's tariffs and deportations

Trump’s mass deportation plan has hurt farmers. As Politico reported:

“The U.S. agricultural workforce fell by 155,000 ‒ about 7 percent ‒ between March and July, according to an analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data. That tracks with Pew Research Center data that shows total immigrant labor fell by 750,000 from January through July. The labor shortage piles onto an ongoing economic crisis for farmers exacerbated by dwindling export markets that could leave them with crop surpluses.”

A University of Michigan survey recently showed another drop in consumer confidence, which is now down 21% from a year ago.

The Washington Post reported: “For the unemployed, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find new work ‒ now taking an average of six months, a month longer than before the pandemic, according to Labor Department data. And for the first time in four years, there are more unemployed people in the United States than there are job openings.”

So none of that is good or golden. At all.

Voters starting to notice how Trump's economy is failing them

Trump inherited an economy from President Joe Biden that The Economist on Oct. 19 dubbed “The envy of the world.” He has proceeded to make things measurably worse for the average American on virtually every metric.

High grocery prices and economic worries were the reasons many voters reelected Trump, a convicted felon. So one would assume there’s significant buyer’s remorse.

One would be right. Fox News – yes, that Fox News – recently reported on the network’s own polling: “By a 22-point margin, a Fox News national survey finds that more voters say the Trump administration has made the economy worse (52%) rather than better (30%).”

When the primary propaganda arm for your administration is saying your administration is screwing up the economy, it might be time to accept that you’re screwing up the economy.

Trump spends big on White House gold while ignoring regular Americans

Trump has been busy adding tacky gold fixtures to the White House, tearing up the Rose Garden and turning it into a mini Mar-a-Lago patio, and prepping plans to add a $200 million ballroom onto the White House, one that will presumably display a shocking array of gold.

Perhaps when the president talked of a Golden Age, he meant one for himself and his rich buddies. They get the gold, we regular Americans get the cruelty, vitriol and chaos Trump always brings. If watching immigrants ripped from their family members is your thing, I guess it’s a Golden Age. If seeing liberals get owned and division stoked is what you’re after, then a Golden Age has been achieved.

But if you want a strong job market and lower grocery prices, there’s no gold here. If you’re a farmer watching your workforce depleted and foreign markets closed off, it’s nothing but rust. If you’ve been unemployed for months and hope to find a job, good luck.

You’re not invited to this Golden Age. It was a phony promise from the jump.