Holiday crowds begin to gather in a shopping district at Rockefeller Center on the afternoon before Thanksgiving on November 26, 2025, in New York City.
Tanking Economy and Higher Prices Put Trump on ‘Naughty List’ This Holiday Season, Group Says
"Families are heading into the holidays facing snowballing costs on everything from toys and groceries to health care and utilities, yet Trump continues to call affordability a hoax."
President Donald Trump delivered a speech on Wednesday in which he tried to convince US voters that the economy under his watch was the envy of the world.
However, newly released data shows that Americans are not buying it.
The latest data from the University of Michigan's Surveys of Consumers showed consumer sentiment of current economic conditions dropped yet again in December to a rating of 50.4, which represents a 33% drop from the 74.0 consumer sentiment rating one year ago.
The Groundwork Collaborative released a report on Friday that slammed the president's economic stewardship and said that "it is no surprise that a record number of Americans put Trump’s economic performance on the naughty list this holiday season."
The group then explained why Americans have good reason to be pessimistic.
One of the most glaring problems with Trump's economy at the moment, the group contended, is the labor market, which has reported net negative job growth over the last two months.
What's more, Groundwork Collaborative noted that "the number of people working part time for economic reasons rose to 5.5 million in November, an increase of about 909,000 since September, as Americans are unable to find full-time employment."
The group also hit Trump for his tariffs on imported goods, which have already cost the average American family an estimated $1,200 so far and are projected to cost them $2,100 next year, assuming the tariffs remain at their current levels.
Alex Jacquez, chief of policy and advocacy at Groundwork Collaborative, said that current economic conditions were the opposite of what Trump promised during the 2024 presidential campaign, when he vowed to lower prices starting on his first day in office.
"Families are heading into the holidays facing snowballing costs on everything from toys and groceries to health care and utilities, yet Trump continues to call affordability a hoax," said Jacquez. "As working families yearn for the ghost of economies past, let’s hope the Scrooge in the White House makes a resolution to stop gaslighting Americans and get serious about bringing costs down in the new year."
Groundwork Collaborative's analysis came one day after the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) released a report on Thursday that outlined how Trump and his Republican allies have worked to make life less affordable for US voters over the last year.
Beyond the aforementioned tariffs cited by Groundwork Collaborative, CBPP cited the major cuts that Trump and the GOP made to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that they passed into law earlier this year.
CBPP also flagged Trump and the GOP's cuts to renewable energy projects that the group argued are raising the cost of electricity at a time when electric grids are coming under heavy strain from the energy demands of artificial intelligence data centers. Making this crisis potentially even worse, the think tank noted that Trump has proposed entirely eliminating the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
Taken together, CBPP suggested that GOP policies have been taking a hatchet to the budgets of US households in the bottom half of the income distribution scale.
"Households with incomes in the bottom half of the distribution... spend almost 90% of their incomes on basic items: utilities, groceries, health care, transportation, and shelter," wrote CBPP. "And to help afford those basics, many need assistance, such as Medicaid, SNAP, or LIHEAP, that the Administration has put on the chopping block."
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President Donald Trump delivered a speech on Wednesday in which he tried to convince US voters that the economy under his watch was the envy of the world.
However, newly released data shows that Americans are not buying it.
The latest data from the University of Michigan's Surveys of Consumers showed consumer sentiment of current economic conditions dropped yet again in December to a rating of 50.4, which represents a 33% drop from the 74.0 consumer sentiment rating one year ago.
The Groundwork Collaborative released a report on Friday that slammed the president's economic stewardship and said that "it is no surprise that a record number of Americans put Trump’s economic performance on the naughty list this holiday season."
The group then explained why Americans have good reason to be pessimistic.
One of the most glaring problems with Trump's economy at the moment, the group contended, is the labor market, which has reported net negative job growth over the last two months.
What's more, Groundwork Collaborative noted that "the number of people working part time for economic reasons rose to 5.5 million in November, an increase of about 909,000 since September, as Americans are unable to find full-time employment."
The group also hit Trump for his tariffs on imported goods, which have already cost the average American family an estimated $1,200 so far and are projected to cost them $2,100 next year, assuming the tariffs remain at their current levels.
Alex Jacquez, chief of policy and advocacy at Groundwork Collaborative, said that current economic conditions were the opposite of what Trump promised during the 2024 presidential campaign, when he vowed to lower prices starting on his first day in office.
"Families are heading into the holidays facing snowballing costs on everything from toys and groceries to health care and utilities, yet Trump continues to call affordability a hoax," said Jacquez. "As working families yearn for the ghost of economies past, let’s hope the Scrooge in the White House makes a resolution to stop gaslighting Americans and get serious about bringing costs down in the new year."
Groundwork Collaborative's analysis came one day after the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) released a report on Thursday that outlined how Trump and his Republican allies have worked to make life less affordable for US voters over the last year.
Beyond the aforementioned tariffs cited by Groundwork Collaborative, CBPP cited the major cuts that Trump and the GOP made to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that they passed into law earlier this year.
CBPP also flagged Trump and the GOP's cuts to renewable energy projects that the group argued are raising the cost of electricity at a time when electric grids are coming under heavy strain from the energy demands of artificial intelligence data centers. Making this crisis potentially even worse, the think tank noted that Trump has proposed entirely eliminating the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
Taken together, CBPP suggested that GOP policies have been taking a hatchet to the budgets of US households in the bottom half of the income distribution scale.
"Households with incomes in the bottom half of the distribution... spend almost 90% of their incomes on basic items: utilities, groceries, health care, transportation, and shelter," wrote CBPP. "And to help afford those basics, many need assistance, such as Medicaid, SNAP, or LIHEAP, that the Administration has put on the chopping block."
- US Consumer Sentiment Falls to Second-Lowest Level in 70+ Years—And It's Likely to Get Worse ›
- Failures of Trumponomics Glaring as Prices, Consumer Anxiety Climb Higher ›
- Consumer Sentiment Falls to Near-Record Low as Trump Wrecks Hope in US Economy ›
President Donald Trump delivered a speech on Wednesday in which he tried to convince US voters that the economy under his watch was the envy of the world.
However, newly released data shows that Americans are not buying it.
The latest data from the University of Michigan's Surveys of Consumers showed consumer sentiment of current economic conditions dropped yet again in December to a rating of 50.4, which represents a 33% drop from the 74.0 consumer sentiment rating one year ago.
The Groundwork Collaborative released a report on Friday that slammed the president's economic stewardship and said that "it is no surprise that a record number of Americans put Trump’s economic performance on the naughty list this holiday season."
The group then explained why Americans have good reason to be pessimistic.
One of the most glaring problems with Trump's economy at the moment, the group contended, is the labor market, which has reported net negative job growth over the last two months.
What's more, Groundwork Collaborative noted that "the number of people working part time for economic reasons rose to 5.5 million in November, an increase of about 909,000 since September, as Americans are unable to find full-time employment."
The group also hit Trump for his tariffs on imported goods, which have already cost the average American family an estimated $1,200 so far and are projected to cost them $2,100 next year, assuming the tariffs remain at their current levels.
Alex Jacquez, chief of policy and advocacy at Groundwork Collaborative, said that current economic conditions were the opposite of what Trump promised during the 2024 presidential campaign, when he vowed to lower prices starting on his first day in office.
"Families are heading into the holidays facing snowballing costs on everything from toys and groceries to health care and utilities, yet Trump continues to call affordability a hoax," said Jacquez. "As working families yearn for the ghost of economies past, let’s hope the Scrooge in the White House makes a resolution to stop gaslighting Americans and get serious about bringing costs down in the new year."
Groundwork Collaborative's analysis came one day after the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) released a report on Thursday that outlined how Trump and his Republican allies have worked to make life less affordable for US voters over the last year.
Beyond the aforementioned tariffs cited by Groundwork Collaborative, CBPP cited the major cuts that Trump and the GOP made to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that they passed into law earlier this year.
CBPP also flagged Trump and the GOP's cuts to renewable energy projects that the group argued are raising the cost of electricity at a time when electric grids are coming under heavy strain from the energy demands of artificial intelligence data centers. Making this crisis potentially even worse, the think tank noted that Trump has proposed entirely eliminating the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
Taken together, CBPP suggested that GOP policies have been taking a hatchet to the budgets of US households in the bottom half of the income distribution scale.
"Households with incomes in the bottom half of the distribution... spend almost 90% of their incomes on basic items: utilities, groceries, health care, transportation, and shelter," wrote CBPP. "And to help afford those basics, many need assistance, such as Medicaid, SNAP, or LIHEAP, that the Administration has put on the chopping block."
- US Consumer Sentiment Falls to Second-Lowest Level in 70+ Years—And It's Likely to Get Worse ›
- Failures of Trumponomics Glaring as Prices, Consumer Anxiety Climb Higher ›
- Consumer Sentiment Falls to Near-Record Low as Trump Wrecks Hope in US Economy ›