Trump’s War on Consumers

by Rob C.

Art by Michael Ramirez

Trump promised to fight for the people, but every one of his policies punishes consumers. From tariffs that cost families $3,400 a year, to killing cheap renewable energy, to gutting the IRS so billionaires can skate free, and now immigration raids that cost billions and drive up food and housing costs—this isn’t just bad economics, it’s class warfare. And we’re losing.

Donald Trump loves to say he’s fighting for the “forgotten men and women” of America. But if you check your grocery receipt, your energy bill, or the pothole you hit on the way to work, it’s pretty clear who he’s really fighting: you. His so-called economic policies have become a full-scale assault on consumers—an invisible war being waged on your wallet, your schools, your infrastructure, and even your kids’ future.

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Let’s start with tariffs. Trump’s economic brain trust decided that the best way to help struggling families was to slap new taxes on everything you buy. The average American household is now paying an extra $3,400 a year thanks to these tariffs. That’s not economic populism, that’s highway robbery with a red hat.

And just when you thought you might work a little overtime to cover the bill, here comes the kicker: preliminary annual revisions showed that employers added nearly a million fewer jobs than originally reported, numbers that were already terrible. Jobs are drying up faster than beer at a frat party.

Then there’s Trump’s obsession with crushing renewable energy. Solar and wind are now the cheapest sources of electricity in the world, and for millions of families, rooftop solar offered a ticket out of the stranglehold of electric monopolies. But Trump couldn’t have that—because freedom is apparently only acceptable when it comes to his ability to dodge subpoenas. So he gutted clean energy incentives, boosted tariffs on the very materials used to build panels and turbines, and handed the oil and gas industry another golden goose. Families lose independence, prices go up, and ExxonMobil laughs all the way to the bank.

And then comes the move that sounds boring but might be the most nefarious of all: his gutting of the IRS. I know, you’re thinking, what does that have to do with consumers? Everything. By kneecapping the IRS and shutting down efforts to close massive tax shelters, Trump has given America’s biggest multinationals and wealthiest billionaires the green light to skip out on paying their share. When they don’t pay in, guess who does? You. Working families end up shouldering more of the tax burden, while services crumble. It’s a reverse Robin Hood scheme—steal from the poor to give to the rich—and it’s happening in plain sight.

Trump’s immigration raids add another cruel twist. Ripping thousands of workers out of the economy has already cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars, and the ripple effects hit right where it hurts: the dinner table. Want to eat? Good luck. Farmers can’t find enough hands to pick crops, so food prices soar. Want to dine out? Restaurants are jacking up prices because their dishwashers and line cooks got snatched off the street. Want to buy or remodel a house? The construction industry relies on migrant labor, and costs are rising as projects stall. The kicker? Even the wealthy are starting to feel the pinch. Their nannies, housekeepers, and gardeners are MIA, and suddenly the ruling class can’t figure out why little Madison’s piano lessons are running late. It turns out cruelty isn’t just expensive—it’s contagious.

As I detail in Part 4 of my book, Democracy for Sale, the billionaire class has been quietly rewriting the rules of the economy for decades. Trump isn’t just their useful idiot—he’s their battering ram. While he entertains the crowd with dictator cosplay, the oligarchs he serves are getting everything they want: deregulation, tax loopholes, and a government that works for capital instead of people.

Meanwhile, the rest of us are stuck with schools ranked below our European counterparts, where 12th-grade reading scores are circling the drain. We drive over crumbling bridges, crawl along in slow trains while China zips by at 200 miles per hour, and juggle a cost of living that makes the American dream feel like a cruel joke. This is what Trump’s war on consumers looks like: your money siphoned upward, your future mortgaged, your dignity sold off at a discount.

Trump promised to fight for the people. Instead, he’s fighting the people. And if we don’t wake up, it won’t just be a war on consumers—it’s class warfare. And right now, we’re losing to the billionaires.

Preliminary annual revisions showed Employers Added Nearly a Million Fewer Jobs Than Believed, Data Shows