The President returned to office on promises to lower costs at home and restore our reputation abroad. Americans got the opposite.

If April Fools has a patron saint in politics, it may be the candidate who promises lower costs and less war, then delivers the reverse on both. Just months into his second administration, the gap between Donald Trump on the campaign trail and Donald Trump in office has already become difficult to ignore. These were not peripheral campaign themes; they were central to the case for Trump’s return. As with so many politicians before him, the promises that helped fuel victory now sit uneasily beside the realities of governing. 

The United States today carries more than $39 trillion in federal debt relative to an economy producing about $30 trillion in annual nominal output, while inflation remains above the Federal Reserve’s long-run target at 2.4 percent, with core inflation at 2.5 percent. The post-COVID economy has hardly returned to a feeling of normalcy; instead, Americans remain uneasy about prices, growth, and the possibility of a downturn. 

On the campaign trail, Trump promised affordability and peace. He argued that domestic mismanagement and global conflict were making life harder at home.

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