Around 40% of voters in the 2024 election said the economy was their top issue, far outstripping any other matter. And those voters favored Donald Trump by 60% to 38%. Many say they were moved by his pledges to tame inflation, rebuild U.S. infrastructure, cut red tape and trim government waste.
About a year and a half later, more voters disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy than approve, 61% to 35%, an average of polls by the Cook Political Report found this month.
Americans have received tax breaks under Trump. The stock market has muscled through trade wars—and shooting wars—to hit new records. At the same time, while the job market is stable, it isn’t on fire. Inflation has heated up in recent months as the U.S.-Israeli bombing of Iran has fueled higher energy prices. Owning a home is still out of reach for many Americans.
The Wall Street Journal talked to Trump voters about his performance on the economy.
Truman Lyons | Chicago, Ill.
Truman Lyons, a 49-year-old bus driver in Chicago, voted for Trump in 2024, the first presidential ballot he had cast since he supported Obama in 2008. Like other Black voters who swung to Trump in 2024, Lyons was hopeful Trump would boost workers. Taking a break next to his bus on a recent afternoon, Lyons said he expected Trump to “fight harder” to help Americans pay their bills.
“Bringing prices down, that should have been a priority,” Lyons said. “I don’t think he’s making the average American citizen the priority.” Lyons also balked at the Trump administration’s bombing of Iran and the spike in gasoline prices it caused.
“What did he say? He said, ‘I’m the president of no wars,’” Lyons said.
Lyons, whose pay hasn’t gone up in three years even as prices keep climbing, said he has enough to cover rent, child support, his cellphone, car insurance and gasoline for necessary trips only. He now feels “horrible” about his vote for Trump, he said. “I regret it.”
Jim Dubela | Stratham, N.H.
Jim Dubela voted for Trump in 2024 in the hope he would address the cost-of-living crunch and improve the U.S. economy. The 66-year-old retired airline captain wanted to see Trump stand in front of a whiteboard on his first day in office and outline his plans for reducing inflation, increasing GDP, trimming the budget deficit and fixing the healthcare system.
The president “gets a C for failing to rein in spending and driving up prices with tariffs,” said Dubela, who lives near Portsmouth, N.H. “Also, the Iran war has directed attention away from our affordability crisis.”
Dubela acknowledges that diagraming plans on a whiteboard “might not be in [Trump’s] character.” And he stresses that it isn’t in the president’s power to fix every economic woe. Still, he said, Trump’s tariffs and decision to go to war with Iran have worsened inflation and put “a huge strain on the typical American’s budget.”
Dubela is financially comfortable but expressed frustration that the cost of filling his home heating-oil tank shot up to $900 in recent weeks. He is also using his boat less because it costs more to fuel it.
Jack and Maria C. Klein | Sugar Land, Texas
Other Trump supporters give him high marks on the economy, pointing to the booming stock market and the still relatively low unemployment rate.
Jack Klein, a Trump voter and environmental consultant in Sugar Land, Texas, near Houston, said Trump’s performance “exceeds my highest expectations.” His stock portfolio has soared in value, allowing him to indulge in more travel. He and his wife, Maria C. Klein, just returned from a trip to South America and are planning another trip to the Caribbean and South America later this year.
“It’s been a boon to me and it sets my mind at ease, and it gives me the freedom to do things like travel without concern,” said Klein, 67.
He also believes that Trump’s support for domestic oil-and-gas production has been a benefit to his work, which sometimes involves advising pipeline companies, and to his son, a petroleum engineer.
Maria C. Klein, also a Trump voter, said she feels the president’s economy has helped her adult daughter, who struggles to make ends meet. Gasoline prices were cheaper at the beginning of Trump’s presidency, and while they have gone up because of the war, Klein expressed confidence they will fall again. Her daughter’s rent in the Houston area has also fallen recently, said Klein, 69.
“The economy I think is going to get much better—not that it’s bad right now—as soon as we get Iran in their place,” Klein said.
John Schultz | Somerville, Mass.
John Schultz, a 72-year-old marketing consultant in the Boston area who voted for Trump, had a different take on how the economy is affecting his adult daughter, saying high prices continue to make it tough for the 32-year-old to afford rent and other items. Schultz, who describes himself as financially secure, is helping his daughter financially as she tries to start her own business.
Schultz, who considers himself an Independent voter, cast a ballot for Trump in the hope that he would lower prices while also keeping the economy growing but fears that tariffs and the war are “just going to add to the inflation.”
He also wanted to see the president help trim the national deficit but hasn’t seen much action on that front. Both parties “seem to think we have a bottomless pit and just spend, spend, spend,” he said.
And though he wasn’t surprised by Trump’s new tariff campaign, he is disappointed by it, saying it hurts U.S. economic relations with allies and makes it less likely that allies will stand with the U.S. against China, which he sees as the nation’s biggest economic threat.
Mary Whitley | Corolla, N.C.
Mary Whitley of Corolla, N.C., praised Trump’s efforts to cut regulation and taxation on businesses, saying it should spark more investment in the economy. She also supports the administration’s focus on boosting domestic energy production, saying it should reduce energy prices over the long haul for U.S. consumers.
The retired former government worker, 68, also believes the administration’s support for nuclear energy will be a boon for the nuclear-power-plant communities near where she grew up, in Michigan.
“I do think that he is living up to his campaign promises,” Whitley said. “I’m an Independent, so I vote for whatever candidate is pushing for things like successful businesses, economic success, making sure that people in the United States are treated fairly, reasonably, and given the opportunity to succeed.”
Chris Delzio | Lady Lake, Fla.
Chris Delzio, a 70-year-old Trump voter and financial adviser in Florida, said his own finances are strong, but he is angry that Trump is spending so much on the war instead of investing at home.
Trump said, “ ‘We’re going to spend the money here,’ you know. ‘No foreign wars. We’re going to rebuild the country.’ And that’s all I wanted to hear. That was music to my ears,” Delzio said. He was expecting to see more investment in bridges, roads and other infrastructure.
“The amount of money spent on these wars just really makes you want to cry,” Delzio said. He considers himself a conservative but is now so disillusioned with both parties that he feels unmotivated to vote in the midterm elections, he said.
Photo credits: Truman Lyons; Jim Dubela; Jack Klein; John Schultz; Sean Whitley; Dana Delzio
Write to Jeanne Whalen at Jeanne.Whalen@wsj.com
