Trump Ally Warns of Economic Struggles Ahead, Says Americans Will ‘Have To Suffer’
An economist and ally of President Donald Trump has stated that Americans will “have to suffer” after reviewing economic forecasts predicting negative job growth.
The president’s campaign was built on the promise of lowering prices for everyday items starting on “Day One,” but Larry Kudlow, who served as the director of the National Economic Council during Trump’s first term, has acknowledged that prices are expected to remain high, and job opportunities are anticipated to dwindle.
Kudlow addressed the concerning economic projections for February on his Fox Business show Kudlow, blaming President Joe Biden’s administration for the ongoing high costs and poor job prospects.
Now a vice chair of the American First Policy Institute, where he advises on Republican strategy, Kudlow shared that there is “bad news” for the economy on the horizon, but emphasized that it is unrelated to Trump’s influence.
Two factors contributing to the continued high prices of goods are bird flu and the tariffs recently imposed on imports from China, Mexico, and Canada.
Although bird flu certainly emerged during Biden’s administration, after Trump took office, the U.S. Department of Agriculture dismissed scientists who were working on preventing such outbreaks. This has led to a drastic reduction in the number of egg-laying hens and severely impacted the poultry industry.
Trump’s claim that tariffs would lead to goods being manufactured in America again has not been realized in the short term. Instead, the tariffs have made products considerably more expensive across the country.
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), along with large-scale federal employee firings, may also be contributing factors to the forecast of a stagnant job market. As the federal government is the nation’s largest employer, any job losses within it can have significant ripple effects.
A new NPR/PBS News/Marist poll revealed that 46 percent of Americans believe Trump is negatively impacting the economy, while 42 percent think he is improving it. Eleven percent of respondents feel he has yet to make a significant change.
While Kudlow insisted that Trump is not to blame for the current economic conditions, he acknowledged that the president’s announcement of new tariffs to Congress did result in a sharp market drop. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1,300 points in two days following the tariff news.
Shares in major U.S. companies like Ford, GM, Target, and Best Buy plummeted after these corporations announced they would be forced to raise prices due to tariffs.
Trump’s new tariffs—25 percent on goods from Canada and Mexico, an additional 10 percent on goods from China, and retaliatory tariffs placed by those countries on U.S. products—are likely to lead to increased costs for vehicles, beer, housing, fuel, electronics, and certain agricultural goods.
Larry Kudlow made his point clear on Fox Business: “My generic point here with respect to affordability and the economy is we’re going to have to suffer through some bad news. This is nothing to do with Trump. Trump’s program’s not in yet. And I’ve got people on the left who are blaming Trump. How can you blame Trump when he wasn’t president when these seeds were planted?”
In response, Representative Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat, posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday: “Trump promised a better economy, but all he’s delivering is higher prices and chaos. He promised to stand up to foreign adversaries, but all he’s done is bow to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin. He promised to drain the swamp, but it’s overflowing with billionaires cashing in.”
The economic projections Kudlow was discussing remain uncertain, so it will be important to see whether prices continue to rise and if the job market worsens this month.
