Trump's portrayal of 'golden age' is out of sync with how Americans see
economy
[February 26, 2026] By
CHRISTOPHER RUGABER and PAUL WISEMAN
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump sought in his first State of
the Union address to sell Americans on the idea of a booming economy,
falling prices, and soaring jobs, yet he faces a skeptical public with a
much gloomier view.
Barely 12 hours before his speech, in fact, The Conference Board, a
business research group, released its latest consumer confidence report.
It showed that overall confidence in the economy remains historically
low, and is barely above the level it plunged to in the depths of the
COVID recession.
In February, its index ticked up to 91.2, which is noticeably below a
four-year peak reached in November 2024 of 112.8. Americans remain
dejected by high prices and see few jobs available, the survey found.
Other polling has yielded similar results: Only 39% of Americans approve
of Trump's economic leadership, according to the latest Associated
Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey. And the University
of Michigan's consumer sentiment survey remains mired at recessionary
levels.
Trump sought to overcome that gloom by pointing to economic data that
paints a brighter picture, a tactic that President Joe Biden tried with
little success. But on Tuesday night there were gaps between the
president's claims and the economic reality many Americans are facing.
“Inflation is plummeting, incomes are rising fast, the roaring economy
is roaring like never before," Trump said.
The economy grew last year, but more slowly
To begin with, the economy is growing but it is hardly “roaring.”
It expanded 2.2% last year, down from 2.8% in Biden's last year and 2.9%
in 2023. To be sure, most Americans were deeply dissatisfied with the
price spikes under Biden that pushed inflation to a peak of 9.1% in
2022, a four-decade high.
A roaring U.S. economy typically looks more like the late 1990s, when
growth topped 4% for four years in a row, or in the 1980s, when it rose
by 3.5% or higher for six years in a row.
Consumers are still struggling with high prices
Inflation has slowed in the past year, but many Americans still cite
high prices in surveys as a key reason they are unhappy with the
economy.
Trump correctly noted that core inflation, which excludes the volatile
food and energy categories, fell to a five-year low in January. Yet
other price measures show that inflation remains stubbornly elevated: A
gauge of core prices closely monitored by the Federal Reserve was 3%
higher in December than a year earlier, above the Fed's 2% target. It
places less weight on housing costs, which have cooled, than the measure
Trump cited.
Nearly half of the people responding to the University of Michigan's
consumer sentiment survey in February “spontaneously mentioned high
prices eroding their personal finances,” Joanne Hsu, director of the
survey, said in a statement.
Trump noted that the price of eggs has fallen sharply from its peak,
which is true, but most necessities Americans rely on — groceries, rent,
electricity — remain much more expensive than they were five years ago.
And electricity prices rose another 6.3% just in the past 12 months.
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President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address to a
joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol
in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (Kenny Holston/The New York
Times via AP, Pool)
 Trump's tariffs have also pushed up
the cost of many imported items, including furniture, auto parts,
tools, and clothes. And groceries such as ground beef, coffee, and
bananas have risen sharply in the past year. Ground beef prices, for
example, are up 17%.
Hiring ground nearly to a halt last year
One reason for the consumer gloom is likely the sharp slowdown in
hiring last year. Employers added just 181,000 jobs in 2025 — or
15,000 a month – making it the worst year for job growth outside of
a recession since 2002.
And despite Trump’s pledge to revive American manufacturing,
factories lost 108,000 jobs in 2025 on top of the 202,000 lost in
the last two years of the Biden administration. Auto and auto parts
plants have cut nearly 74,000 jobs the past two years.
Trump’s tariffs are partially to blame because they force many
factories to pay more for imported raw materials and parts. But high
interest rates have also hurt manufacturers over the past couple of
years. And many of them hired aggressively — perhaps too much — in
2021 and 2022 when the U.S. economy was roaring back from pandemic
lockdowns. Automation also means that many factories need fewer
workers.
Hiring did come in unexpectedly strong in January at 130,000 new
jobs, and factories added jobs for the first month in more than a
year.
Benefits of tariffs remain unclear
Trump suggested his tariffs have directly contributed to an economic
boom for the U.S., but most Americans have likely seen little
benefit.
“Moving forward, factories, jobs, investment and trillions and
trillions of dollars will continue pouring into the United States of
America,” Trump said.
Trump once again made his tariffs sound painless, insisting that
they are paid by foreign countries. In fact, they are paid by U.S.
importers who often try to pass the burden along to their customers
through higher prices. Foreign companies might take a hit if they
have to cut prices to maintain sales in the United States. But
import prices haven’t fallen significantly, suggesting that overseas
exporters aren’t feeling much pain.
A study by Harvard University economist Alberto Cavallo and two
colleagues found that U.S. consumers were eating 43% of the higher
tariff costs and that U.S. companies were absorbing most of the
rest.
And so far Trump’s sweeping import taxes haven’t delivered much
progress toward his goal of reducing the vast and longstanding U.S.
trade deficit — the gap between what America sells to foreign
countries and what it buys from them.
The U.S. trade deficit in goods such as automobiles and appliances —
the focus of Trump’s protectionist policies — actually hit a record
$1.24 trillion last year, increasing 2% from 2024.
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