Following Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January, economic conditions for Black Americans have deteriorated despite earlier campaign promises of economic revitalization. During the 2024 election cycle, Trump gained modest support among Black voters—increasing his share from 8% in 2020 to 16%—largely due to voter frustration over inflation and cost-of-living pressures. However, recent data indicate worsening outcomes in employment, income, and homeownership within the Black community.
Black unemployment has risen from 6.2% to 7.5% in 2025, the highest level since October 2021. Median household income for Black families declined by 3.3% last year to $56,020, according to the Census Bureau, leaving a gap of approximately $36,000 compared to the average white household. Redfin reports that Black homeownership has also dropped to its lowest point since 2021.
Experts warn that economic distress among Black Americans often serves as an early indicator of broader economic instability. Angela Hanks of The Century Foundation noted that this group historically faces job losses before other demographics during downturns, making their current situation a potential warning sign.
The Trump administration attributes some of the economic strain to policies enacted under President Joe Biden, arguing that inflation and high interest rates limited access to housing and eroded wealth. White House spokesman Kush Desai criticized Biden’s economic agenda, claiming it reduced the Black share of household wealth by nearly 25% and blamed open-border policies for suppressing wages.
However, some Black voters feel disillusioned by the current administration’s focus on immigration enforcement and federal workforce reductions, which appear to disproportionately affect Black employees due to their higher representation in government roles. Josh Garrett, a Florida-based sales professional, expressed concern over job cuts impacting families with financial obligations.
Meanwhile, white household net worth has remained stable or increased, supported by gains in financial assets. Critics argue that Trump’s tariffs and spending cuts are creating “chaotic effects” that initially impact vulnerable populations but may eventually spread more widely.
The administration’s proposals to deploy the National Guard in cities with Black mayors and to redraw electoral districts in ways that could dilute minority voting power have raised concerns about racial bias. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott interpreted these actions as implying that certain communities are incapable of self-governance due to their racial composition.
With economic hardship potentially fueling social instability, Democratic leaders warn that progress in reducing urban crime could be reversed. Although Trump improved his standing with Black voters in 2024, his ability to maintain that support may depend on delivering tangible economic improvements. Currently, many feel that campaign promises related to affordability have been overshadowed by enforcement-driven policies.
Alexsis Rodgers of the Black to the Future Action Fund emphasized a shift in political awareness, noting that voters who believed Trump would address everyday costs like food and housing now see a different priority in governance.
— news from AP News
— News Original —
Trump’s economic promises to Black voters fall short after a modest shift in support for him in 2024
WASHINGTON (AP) — At one of his final rallies before the 2024 election, then-candidate Donald Trump warned that Black Americans were losing their jobs in droves and that things would get even worse if he did not return to the White House. n n“You should demand that they give you the numbers of how many Black people are going to lose their job,” Trump said. “The African American population, they’re getting fired at numbers that we have never seen before.” n nBut with Trump back in office since January, an already fragile financial situation for Black Americans has worsened. Upset by inflation and affordability issues, Black voters had shifted modestly toward the Republican last year on the promise that he could boost the economy by stopping border crossings and challenging foreign factories with tariffs. Yet a recent spate of economic data instead shows a widening racial wealth gap. n nBlack unemployment has climbed from 6.2% to 7.5% so far in 2025, the highest level since October 2021. Black homeownership has fallen to the lowest level since 2021, according to an analysis by the real estate brokerage Redfin. Earlier this month, the Census Bureau said the median Black household income fell 3.3% last year to $56,020, which is roughly $36,000 less than what a white household earns and evidence of a bad situation becoming worse. n nThat creates a major political risk for the president as well as an economic danger for the nation because job losses for Black Americans have historically foreshadowed a wider set of layoffs across other groups. n n“Black Americans are often the canary in the coal mine,” said Angela Hanks, a former official at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Labor Department who is now at The Century Foundation, a liberal think tank. n nThe Trump White House stressed that some of these downward trends, such as a relative decline in Black wealth, began under Democratic President Joe Biden. It emphasized that the “diversity, equity and inclusion” policies pushed by Democrats failed to deliver economic gains. n n“Despite his lunatic obsession with DEI, Joe Biden’s disastrous economic agenda reduced the Black share of household wealth by nearly 25%,” said White House spokesman Kush Desai. “His inflationary policies caused interest rate hikes that froze Americans out of homeownership, and his open borders policies flooded the country with tens of millions of illegals who drove down wages.” n nSome Black voters see Trump’s policies as doing more to hurt than help n nSome Black voters who stayed on the sidelines in 2024 feel they need to be more engaged politically. n nJosh Garrett, a 30-year-old salesperson in Florida, said he could not find a candidate last year with whom he agreed. He is frustrated by Trump’s layoffs of federal workers and sees a government more geared toward billionaires than the middle class. n n“I don’t understand how you could be for the American people and have Americans lose their jobs when they have families, have bills,” Garrett said. n nWhile the financial outlook for Black Americans is deteriorating, the net worth of white households is largely holding steady or increasing, largely due to stock market performance. n nHanks notes that the “chaotic effects” of Trump’s tariffs and spending cuts are hitting more vulnerable populations right now but that the damage could soon spread beyond. n nBlack leaders see Trump’s policies as discriminatory based on race n nThe federal layoffs appear to have disproportionately hit Black Americans because they make up a meaningful share of the government workforce. The administration maintains that its income tax cuts, tariffs and deportations of immigrants who are in the United States illegally will help Black Americans, but there is little evidence so far in the data of that. n nAt the same time, Trump has said that he would like to deploy the National Guard to Chicago, New Orleans, Baltimore and Memphis, Tennessee — cities led by Black mayors. The president has called for redrawing congressional districts to favor Republicans, which could dilute the ability of Black voters to shape elections. He has sought to diminish the legacy of slavery and segregation from the Smithsonian museums. n n“The message that they are sending is very clear: In these places, these people are incapable of governing themselves,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said. “They are incapable of helping to solve their own issues. And make no mistake about it, it’s partly due to how we look.” n nThe Democrat warned that the mounting economic challenges could contribute to crime in the future, reversing progress that cities have made in recent years to lower homicide rates. n nTrump might not be able to afford alienating Black voters n nBlack Americans are the dominant core of the Democratic base, though Trump has improved his standing with them. In 2024, Trump won 16% of Black voters, doubling his 2020 share, according to AP VoteCast, an extensive survey of the electorate. One of the key differences appeared to be frustration over inflation and affordability. n nRoughly one-third of Black voters (36%) in the 2024 presidential election said the economy and jobs was the most important issue facing the country, up from 11% in 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic was the top issue. n nIn a July poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, about half of Black adults (52%) said the amount of money they get paid was a “major” source of stress in their life right now, slightly higher than for U.S. adults overall (43%) and significantly higher than for white adults (37%). n nWhen it comes to incomes, some associated with the conservative movement suggest that Black households are more vulnerable because fewer of them are in married families, which generally tend to have higher incomes. n nDelano Squires, a fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, said the “connection between family structure and financial stability is one that is fairly consistent across time.” n nThe immediate political reality is that Trump had a mandate to improve the economy for the middle class, including Black voters. But many of those voters now see an administration more focused on deporting immigrants and expanding its own grip on power, possibly threatening Republicans’ chances of holding onto the House and key Senate seats in next year’s elections. n n“We’re in a new era,” said Alexsis Rodgers, political director at the Black to the Future Action Fund. “There are people who obviously believed his promises, that Trump was going to do something about the cost of eggs, the cost of housing. They’ve seen the focus instead is on ICE raids and downsizing the government.”