The Mounting Damage of Trump’s Policies

Artwork: R Stephenson

The policies of the second Trump administration have done tremendous damage. Their impact has been almost entirely negative, but this post ends with some recent good news.

Wars. Operation Epic Fury in Iran has killed somewhere between 9,000 and 18,000 people since February (18-20 US soldiers, thousands of Iranian military personnel and civilians, also Hezbollah fighters, and civilians in Israel, Lebanon, and the Gulf states). The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has driven up the costs of oil, fertilizer, and food in the US and many other countries, increasing hunger and poverty in the U.S., Asia, and Africa.

Americans are feeling worse about the price of groceries than they were before the war with Iran. Two-thirds of Americans say that groceries are unaffordable, up sharply from the 45 percent who said that before the conflict started. 

Meanwhile, in Gaza about 1,000 people have been killed since the “cease fire” of October 2025.   More than half a million people in Gaza are now trapped in famine, including widespread starvation, destitution, and preventable deaths. 

War also rages in many other countries, notably Gaza and Sudan where war has led to mass displacement and widespread famine. At one time, the U.S. government would have been active in facilitating peace talks in a situation like Sudan faces today. 

President Trump once hoped for the Nobel Peace Prize, but he is building a legacy of violence.

Climate change is now painfully obvious. It’s no hoax, as the president thinks. Extreme heat and wild fires across the U.S. and Europe make climate change hard to ignore. But President Trump’s policy is “Drill, baby, drill,” and the U.S.government no longer works with the rest of the world to protect our planet.  

Mass deportation continues apace, driving many working families into poverty. Americans have grown accustomed to masked, sometimes brutal law enforcement officers.

DOGE cuts in international assistance have contributed to famine in Gaza and Sudan. Cuts in international health assistance have resulted in an untold number of deaths. Cuts in assistance to small-scale farmers and business development have been a drag on progress against poverty.

The “Big, Beautiful Bill” of 2025 is now being implemented. Already, 4.5 million people (about a third of them children) have lost SNAP food assistance. Eight million people have already lost health insurance.

The “Big, Beautiful Bill” also made Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent. These tax cuts are mainly for high-income people and corporations. The benefits for middle- and low-income people, which the president trumpets (no taxes on tips and “Trump accounts” for babies) are relatively trivial and will expire in 2028.

The US economy is “K-shaped” and uncertain. The stock market has gone up by 61 percent under this administration, while the share of working-age people who are working has dropped—coincidentally to the same number, 61 percent. Corporate profits are now at their highest level since 1950, while what employees get paid as a percentage of GNP is now at its lowest level since 1950. 

Most Americans are struggling with the high prices of housing, groceries, gas, and health insurance. Yet Trump is imposing a new round of tariffs, which will further raise prices and slow economic growth. Most Americans, especially younger Americans, feel insecure about their futures. Trump’s policy toward the development of artificial intelligence is to let tech billionaires shape its future without any democratic oversight. This policy is meeting with bipartisan voter resistance and might lead to mass unemployment.  

Rigging this year’s elections is a high priority for President Trump.  He started the competition between Republican- and Democrat-majority legislatures to gerrymander congressional districts. Racial minorities have clearly lost representation. The president’s top priority for Congress now is passage of the SAVE Act, which would make voting more difficult, especially among women and low-income people. 

Just this week, Trump’s Justice Department announced they will send 1,000 federal election monitors to polling places across the country. The Trump administration and their allies will almost certainly try to interfere at both polling places and in the post-election certification process.

Are you ready for a bit of good news?

Trump’s approval rating has dropped.  Only 38 percent of Americans think he’s doing a good job, down from 52 percent at the start of this administration.  Seventy-three percent disapprove of the war against Iran, including 34 percent of Republicans. If voters elect a Democratic majority in one or both houses of Congress, that would moderate the damage that the president can do in 2027 and 2028.

Already now, some Senate Republicans are saying no to some of the President’s demands.  They have refused to eliminate the filibuster, so most legislation still requires the votes of at least a handful of Democrats. Thus, the SAVE Act won’t become law, and the Senate’s position on military and social spending will be less severe than what the president and House of Representatives are proposing. 

Finally, the State Department is resuscitating some U.S. international aid, thanks in part to the good work of advocacy groups.  Over the past two months, the State Department has announced $2 billion in commitments for international health and nutrition, mostly relying on international organizations for implementation. Even more recently, the State Department announced another $2 billion in funding for faith-based organizations.  Even now, advocacy sometimes works.