Trump’s Polices Are Making America Unaffordable & Sticking Workers with Higher Bills and Smaller Paychecks

WASHINGTON, DC -- Two-hundred and fifty years ago, the unfair imposition of tariffs and levies by King George III -- who was seeking to pay off his empire’s massive war debts -- ignited the American revolution. Today, President Trump is imposing costly, unauthorized tariffs on the American people, cutting away the social safety net, and forcing them to pay higher prices. He also started a disastrous war with Iran that has fed inflation, made America less secure, and is demanding that taxpayers provide him with billions of dollars to fund a military campaign they did not support that has empowered Iran’s hardline regime. “As we get ready to celebrate America’s 250 th birthday, President Trump would do well to remember that Americans don’t take kindly to those who abuse their power, undermine the rule of law and common good, and try to ignore the judicial system and enrich themselves at the expense of hardworking people,” said U.S. Senator Jack Reed. Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Trump Administration’s blanket tariffs unlawful and a lower court ordered refunds. As the high court ends its term this week, the President continues to flout the law: Only around $21 billion of the $166 billion owed has been paid and virtually none of it has gone back into the pockets of working families, small businesses, and family farmers who were hit hardest by Trump’s unconstitutional tariffs. With recent reports showing weak job numbers (including downward revisions from previous months) and persistent inflation , Senator Reed warns that President Trump’s policies and actions are betraying American workers and causing financial hardships for families and businesses. “By imposing tariffs, dismantling health care, defunding public education, cutting away the social safety net, spiking electricity costs, and weakening unions, President Trump has launched a thinly disguised assault on American workers and working families. People are feeling the effects of Trump’s policies. While most Americans are working longer hours and falling deeper into debt, Trump’s personal income has soared by over $1.4 billion while in office. Trump only seems to care about Wall Street metrics, but Main Street is clearly hurting. People across the country in cities, towns and rural areas are all having a harder time paying for necessities as they struggle with Trumpflation and higher costs from tariffs and the Iran war,” said Reed. Recent Federal Reserve data shows that under the Trump Administration, American workers’ share of the economic pie has fallen to its lowest level ever recorded. According to research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, as of early 2026, American workers received just 54.1 percent of national income. That is down from 57.7 percent in 2020 and well below the level of 65 percent in 1947, when the federal government first began tracking the data . And today, another weak jobs report showed the U.S. economy added just 57,000 jobs last month with labor force participation dropping to a five-year low, and wage growth tracked below inflation for a third consecutive month. At the same time, Trump’s policies are contributing to higher mortgage rates that are keeping home ownership beyond the reach of many Americans . Earlier this month Congress passed the bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act to help build more housing, lower costs, streamline construction regulations, and curb private equity’s ability to buy up single-family homes and drive up housing prices. Instead of signing the law, which passed with veto-proof majorities, President Trump is sitting on it . “President Trump’s policies are not working for workers and small businesses. Meanwhile, billionaires and Big Oil get handouts and are reaping financial windfalls while Americans struggle to fill their gas tanks. Under Trump, American manufacturing is being lost while communities get hollowed out. Americans are going to be paying for Trump’s bad decisions long after he leaves office and flies off into the sunset in his new, Qatari-gifted luxury jet that taxpayers paid to upgrade and he wants to keep for himself . That is typical of the Trump presidency: he gets a so-called ‘free’ luxury jet and taxpayers are left footing the bill and get nothing in return,” said Reed.