No. of Recommendations: 25
Every single thing Trump has ever touched turns to sh!t.Ah well, from an economic perspective, that would depend much on your measuring stick.
If you are sitting in the White House, you'll probably consider your reign as wildly successful to date:
Income / Stakeholder Group Net Impact Main Drivers
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bottom 40% Net Negative Yale Budget Lab: combined OBBBA + 2025 tariffs cut bottom-
(0th-40th percentile; (largest loss) decile after-tax income ~7% (~$2,700/yr). CBO finds the bottom
deciles 1-4) two deciles net negative from OBBBA alone. Tariffs act as a
regressive consumption tax, hitting food/apparel/auto prices
hardest as a share of income; minor tax provisions (no tax on
tips/overtime) don't fully offset.
Middle 20% Net Negative Falls within the bottom 90% that Yale finds averages a net
(40th-60th percentile; (moderate) loss once tariffs and OBBBA are combined (median household
deciles 5-6) roughly -1% to -2% in recent updates). Modest individual tax
cuts are largely offset by tariff-driven price increases.
Upper-Middle 30% Net Negative Still inside the group Yale's own report describes as losing
(60th-90th percentile; (smallest loss in on net -- 'all income groups except the top decile.' Loss
deciles 7-9, roughly the bottom 90%) narrows here versus lower deciles (more benefit from OBBBA's
$105k-$220k) bracket/SALT provisions) but does not flip positive.
90th-99th percentile Modestly Positive The published +1.5% figure is an average for the ENTIRE top
(affluent, not top 1%) (smaller share of the decile (90th-100th). Gains within that decile skew toward
top decile's gain) capital and business ownership, which concentrates further up
the scale -- so the 90-99% slice likely sees a smaller gain
than the decile average suggests, even though it's nominally
'winning.' Inference from the concentration pattern, not a
direct citation.
Top 1% & Top 0.1% Net Positive Extension of top individual rates, permanent pass-through and
(disproportionate) corporate tax cuts, capital-gains-heavy income, and
deregulation-driven asset appreciation concentrate here. This
slice likely accounts for most of the top decile's +1.5%
average gain, meaning the true benefit to the top 1%/0.1%
specifically is almost certainly well above that blended
figure.
Trump Family & Direct Net Positive Major revenue growth across family ventures (real estate,
Family Enterprises (outlier magnitude) foreign licensing, media, crypto ventures like World Liberty
Financial). Driven by tax extensions, rapid deregulation, and
high-dollar foreign/private investment. Oversight reports
(e.g. House Judiciary Dems, Nov. 2025) and investigative
journalism characterize elements as self-dealing/corruption
tied to pardons and regulatory actions; the White House
disputes this, stating there are 'no conflicts of interest.'
