Donald Trump’s economic agenda has come under intense scrutiny as mounting evidence suggests significant strain on the U.S. economy. Job growth has sharply declined, with only 20,000 new positions added last month—a stark drop compared to the typical 250,000 monthly average. This slowdown signals deeper structural issues, further exacerbated by declining agricultural exports and diminishing foreign investment. Additionally, rising tariffs have led to increased consumer prices, placing additional pressure on households across the nation.
One notable incident involved Hyundai’s planned manufacturing facility in the U.S., where approximately 450 South Korean engineers were detained by immigration authorities despite being essential to technology transfer. The move has raised alarms among international partners, potentially discouraging future foreign direct investment due to perceived instability and unwelcoming policies.
Trade tensions, particularly with China, have had severe repercussions for American farmers. Soybean producers in the Midwest, a key base of political support for Trump, have seen exports to China effectively halted. With around 900,000 soybean farmers receiving no orders from their largest market, rural economies face a looming crisis. Without export revenue, local spending is expected to contract, affecting businesses far beyond the agricultural sector.
Monetary policy conflicts have also emerged, as uncertainty surrounding Trump’s economic direction fuels investor anxiety. Interest rates have climbed in response to concerns over inflation and dollar volatility, compounding financial pressures. The cumulative effect includes weakened domestic consumption, strained international trade relations, and a chilling effect on global capital flows into the U.S.
Critics argue that the administration’s focus on tax reductions for high-income groups, paired with broad tariff implementation, fails to stimulate sustainable growth. Instead, these measures appear to redistribute economic burden onto middle- and lower-income populations through higher living costs. Observers warn that such policies risk isolating the U.S. economically and undermining long-term competitiveness.
The consequences extend beyond national borders. Analysts in the UK and other allied nations are watching closely, noting parallels with rising far-right movements that advocate similar protectionist and inward-looking economic models. Experts stress the importance of learning from current developments to avoid replicating policies that may harm interconnected global markets.
While some supporters maintain faith in Trump’s vision of revitalizing American industry, the data paints a troubling picture of stagnation and disruption. As regional economies falter and international partnerships weaken, questions grow about the sustainability of this approach. For many, the promise of renewed prosperity appears increasingly at odds with economic reality.
— news from Funding the Future
— News Original —
Trump’s economic disaster
Donald Trump promised to Make America Great Again. Instead, he is wrecking the US economy. Job creation has collapsed, farmers can ‘t sell their crops, foreign investors are leaving, and tariffs are pushing up prices for ordinary Americans. n nIn this video, I explain why Trump ‘s economic policies are a disaster — and why the UK should take note as the far-right tries to copy them. n nThis is the audio version: n nThis is the transcript: n nI am going to try to be as polite as I can in the sentence that follows this one. n nTrump is really messing up the US economy. n nWe ‘re not talking about just a little bit going wrong now. We are talking about a total and utter flipping disaster. n nThat ‘s how badly things are going in the USA, and there ‘s no point in Trump trying to pretend anymore that this has anything to do with Biden. It hasn ‘t. It has everything to do with Trump. n nNo new jobs are being created in the USA. n nLast month, it was thought that 20,000 jobs were created in the single month, a record low for a long period of time. The US normally adds a quarter of a million new jobs a month. This figure is staggeringly small. n nThe slowdown is very real. And we know that the figures for job growth over the last year have been restated, including some of Biden ‘s period, and I accept that. But this is still exceptional. n nAnd there are other signs of things going really horribly wrong. n nLook at what happened with regard to Hyundai. They were doing inward investment into the USA to build a plant in the country to overcome the tariff problem that Trump was creating. And then ICE, the customs people, turned up, and they arrested around 450 Korean nationals working at that plant to establish the technology that will be needed to make Hyundai cars in America. And guess what? South Koreans aren ‘t too pleased about discovering that when they go to the States to do what the States wants them to do, which is to build a plant in that country, they get arrested for being illegal immigrants. Which they almost certainly weren ‘t. This is how to destroy inward investment into the USA. n nAnd there ‘s another thing to talk about as well. Those tariffs that Donald Trump has been putting on everything into the USA have given rise, of course, to tariffs the other way. In particular, between the USA and China. And I predicted earlier this year that there would be a massive backlash and consequence as a result, particularly in the Midwest farming districts of the USA, which are above all else the areas where Donald Trump gets his support for the MAGA – Make America Great Again – movement. And it ‘s happened. n nOne of the biggest crops that is grown in Midwest America is soybeans. And the biggest market for Midwest American soybeans is not in America. It is in China, they love soybeans. And right now, there are no orders for Midwest farmers from China. n nIt ‘s as if China has said, “Blow you, Mr. Trump, we aren ‘t interested in buying your product anymore because you are playing silly games. And so we will take countermeasures. That won ‘t just be a tariff. It will be a simple block on buying your products.” n nAnd that is what has happened. There are 900,000 soybean farmers apparently in the USA, and none of them has an order from China. This is going to be catastrophic for the economy of Midwest America. n nIt ‘s going to be catastrophic for the MAGA supporters in that area. n nIt ‘s going to be catastrophic for everybody else in those areas because if the farmers aren ‘t spending, and they bring in most of the money into the economies of the Midwest states, then no one else is going to be spending either. n nTrump has disasters on his hands. n nA disaster of a slowing economy. n nA disaster of an economy where he ‘s fighting the Fed. n nA disaster where interest rates are rising because of fear of what he ‘s trying to do and the consequences for the dollar. n nA disaster on his hands with regard to inward investment. n nAnd now a disaster on his hands with regard to exports. n nThese are multiple whammies coming in all directions at what is happening in the USA, and there is only one explanation for them all, and that is the failure of Donald Trump to comprehend what is going on inside the economy of the country that he is trying to govern. n nHe ‘s not ‘Making America Great Again ‘. He ‘s destroying the American economy as fast as it is possible for any human being on earth to do. And that human being was elected to be President of the States. n nAmerica is going to pay an enormous price for Trump. Sometime soon, America is going to realise that. The Midwest farmers already are. They ‘re beginning to scream and holler, and shout and say, something ‘s going horribly wrong here. And they are right to do so. n nThe South Koreans are already getting upset and won ‘t be coming back to set up more factories. n nAmerica will be sitting in isolation with the higher prices that their tariffs will inevitably mean for the American consumer now that products won ‘t be made at home, as Trump said they would be. n nEverything is potentially going wrong for the US economy. n nBut don ‘t just sit back and smile, because I ‘m not. n nI ‘m sorry for ordinary Americans. n nI ‘m sorry for those who were misled by Trump. n nI ‘m sorry for those who thought he was really going to ‘Make America Great Again ‘ and for whom he ‘s going to fail. n nI ‘m sorry for everybody else in the world who ‘s going to pay the price, for those South Koreans, for the Chinese who won ‘t be getting the soybeans they want. For everybody who will see the knock-on effects of what Trump is doing. n nThis man is an outright disaster. n nFar-right politics is an outright disaster. n nWe ‘ve always known that, but now we can see the evidence. And it ‘s critical that we do see a note and talk about that evidence, because the threat from the far-right is real elsewhere, including here in the UK. n nThe far-right has no known answer to any known problem. n nIts hatred of migrants solves nothing. We are living in an interdependent world, and to pretend otherwise is just absurd. n nTo pretend that we can live in glorious economic isolation is just absurd. n nTo pretend that we can run an economy on the basis of giving tax cuts to the rich, and increasing, in effect, taxes on everybody else by imposing tariffs is absurd because the net result is a lack of spending power. n nAnd in the case of Midwest America, that lack of spending power is going to be very obvious. n nAnd the people of the UK should take note because if you look at Reform, the only people that ‘re interested in are bankers and the City of London. Everybody else in the UK, frankly, is ignored by reform. n nWe are going to see that policy that is being pursued by Trump, replicated by Reform in the UK, if they ever get near office. Lessons do therefore have to be learned, and the lesson is loud and clear. Trump is an absolute flipping disaster. And as I said at the outset, I ‘m trying to be as polite as I can here. n nWhat do you think? Do you think Trump is going to work for America? Or do you think he ‘s a massive threat to its well-being? Maybe you don ‘t know? Maybe you need more information? Maybe you want to say something else? Let us know in the poll that ‘s below and in the comments; we do appreciate them. n nPoll n nComments