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The Trump administration released bad news about the economy on Wednesday: According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, the economy shrank for the first time since 2022 in what is likely the first tangible sign for everyday Americans of the impact of President Donald Trump’s policies.
The news sent the stock market into a tailspin, while business owners warned that shoppers could start seeing empty store shelves.
But even as the bad news piles up, the Trump administration has decided to reassure panicked consumers with a chilling talking point: Poverty is good, actually.
Last month, as economists warned of the harm Trump’s tariff policies could cause, including drastically increasing the price of goods, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent attempted to dismiss those concerns by insinuating that being able to afford things is not important to Americans.
“Access to cheap goods is not the essence of the American dream,” Bessent said to a crowd of economists.
It turns out this assertion was only the beginning of the Trump administration’s vision for a new American dream.
From Trump telling reporters that he’s not worried about empty stores to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick saying during an interview that in his version of America, multiple generations will work in the same factories, it sure seems like the Trump administration is trying to prime Americans for accepting and even enjoying a drastically lower standard of living.
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It’s a sharp contrast from where Trump was during the 2024 election.
Conventional Republican wisdom at the time said that former President Joe Biden’s policies had made everything from groceries to cars to houses more expensive, and a vote for Trump would bring some much-needed relief. “Make America Wealthy Again” has been a constant refrain, with Trump even holding an official event themed around the idea last month.
But now, Republicans seem to be saying, not only is relief not coming, but you shouldn’t complain about it either.
Lutnick described this week in an interview on MSNBC his idea of the American dream: essentially, multiple generations of your family stuck in the same grueling job for low pay.
“It’s time to train people not to do the jobs of the past but to do the great jobs of the future,” Lutnick said about working in a factory that makes computer chips. “This is the new model, where you work in these kinds of plants for the rest of your life, and your kids work here, and your grandkids work here.”
Wages for those who work in factories have been low and stagnant for years. According to the Cato Institute think tank, garment workers in South Carolina are paid as low as $11 an hour. For workers assembling washing machines, the pay rises to just $16 to $17 an hour. The living wage for the state, on the other hand — as defined by MIT’s calculator as the amount an individual must earn to support themselves while working full-time — is $22.15 an hour for a single adult with no children. Many of these jobs often require long hours on your feet and the ability to lift a certain amount of weight.
Then there’s the notion that not only will you work in a factory; so will your children and grandchildren. This is in direct contrast to one of the defining features of the “American dream” that no matter where you come from, you have a chance of great achievements. The idea that there’s no chance for upward mobility and that generations will be bound to the same boss sounds suspiciously like feudalism.
“There’s a tacit admission in all the rhetoric about children having to go without toys and insisting that a bright future is the masses happily working in a factory for their entire lives.”
While Trump’s Cabinet members try to put a happy face on a shrinking economy, the president can’t decide if the economy is great thanks to him, if he should blame Biden for all the economic chaos, or if the public should suck it up.
“This is Biden’s Stock Market, not Trump’s. I didn’t take over until January 20th,” he wrote on TruthSocial after the report from the Commerce Department was released, urging people to be patient because soon tariffs would kick in. He’s admitting that things aren’t looking great — but claiming it’s definitely not his fault.
The day before, however, Trump was touting the amazing economy he created. At a Tuesday evening rally in Michigan, Trump bragged about all he had accomplished in his first 100 days back in office, baselessly claiming he brought prices down.
And as for the likely shortage of goods caused by the astronomical tariffs on China, the United States’ largest trading partner? Well, maybe your kids can just go without.
“You know, somebody said, ‘Oh, the shelves are going to be open,’” Trump said at a Cabinet meeting after a reporter asked him about empty shelves. “Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls. So maybe the two dolls will cost a couple bucks more than they would normally.”
The Trump administration’s vision for the American dream: grueling hours in a factory and no toys for your children.
Since Inauguration Day, Trump has been boasting about ushering in a new Golden Age. But he probably should have been more specific about who, exactly, would be reaping the benefits.
Trump largely campaigned on economic relief. He constantly attacked Biden for inflation, repeatedly vowed to bring prices down on day one, and promised tariffs would generate revenue for the country (even though economists have said that is largely not what his trade policies would do).
There’s a tacit admission in all the rhetoric about children having to go without toys and insisting that a bright future is the masses happily working in a factory for their entire lives: We know our policies will make you poorer and make life harder for millions of working people in America. We just don’t care.
Ted Streshinsky Photographic Archive via Getty Images
In an era when every Republican is too afraid to get out of line and MAGA voters take pride in taunting liberals who are affected by Trump’s policies, attempting to frame economic woes as some greater good just might work.
But Trump loyalists aren’t the only people who will suffer in the new American dream — and they’re already giving Trump bad marks on the economy, a stunning reversal from his first term. A CNN poll conducted earlier this month found that 59% of respondents believe Trump’s policies have made the economy worse. A Reuters poll had similar findings, with 56% of Americans polled disapproving of his economic priorities.
While many Democratic voters were skeptical of Trump’s claims about what he would do as president, there is evidence that voters whose top concerns were the economy still rallied behind Trump over Kamala Harris to send him back to the White House.
But now, as ABC’s Terry Moran explained to Trump during a wide-ranging interview this week, his own voters may already be suffering from buyers’ remorse. But there’s no indication that the Trump administration plans on reversing course.
“People are worried, even some people who voted for you saying, ‘I didn’t sign up for this,’” Moran said. “So how do you answer those concerns?”
Trump put it plainly. “Well, they did sign up for it, actually,” he said. “And this is what I campaigned on.”