The Great American Con: How Trump’s Policies Are Making Corporations Richer and You Poorer
Prices Keep Rising, Wages Stay Flat, and Big Business Laughs All the Way to the Bank.
Donald Trump ran for re-election on the promise of tackling rising consumer prices, vowing to ease the financial strain on working families. Yet, weeks into his second term, it’s clear that his administration’s economic policies are not about helping Americans—they’re about enriching corporations at the expense of workers and consumers.
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The Big Lie: Trump’s Economic Plan Helps the Rich, Not You
Throughout his campaign, Trump blamed inflation on government policies, promising that he alone could drive down prices by slashing regulations and boosting domestic energy production. But history tells us exactly what happens when Trump hands corporations a free pass: workers get crumbs, prices keep climbing, and CEOs walk away with billions.
Take Trump’s first term tax cuts in 2017, which he claimed would lead to higher wages and more jobs. Instead, corporations spent $1.1 trillion on stock buybacks, artificially inflating their share prices while worker wages barely moved. Companies like AT&T and GM used the tax windfall to lay off thousands of employees, proving that the so-called benefits of deregulation and tax breaks don’t trickle down to workers—they flood into corporate boardrooms.
Now, Trump is back at it again, pushing policies that will widen the gap between soaring corporate profits and stagnating worker paychecks—while making everyday essentials even more expensive.
The Housing and Healthcare Bait-and-Switch
Trump claims he’s tackling high housing and healthcare costs, but his policies suggest otherwise. His administration has outlined vague plans to expand the housing supply but has not yet implemented them. Instead of investing in affordable housing, his HUD secretary, Scott Turner, has focused on rolling back protections for vulnerable populations—a move that benefits landlords and developers, not renters struggling with skyrocketing prices.
Meanwhile, his healthcare agenda is even worse. Trump has proposed cutting medical research funding by slashing indirect cost coverage at the National Institutes of Health. While he claims this will save taxpayers money, reducing medical research funding means fewer breakthroughs in treatments, higher drug prices in the long run, and worse patient outcomes.
At the same time, he’s rolled back Medicare and Medicaid drug price controls designed to prevent pharmaceutical companies from price-gouging consumers. By undoing these protections, Trump is handing Big Pharma a blank check while leaving seniors and low-income Americans to pay the price—literally.
Trump’s Trade War 2.0: Higher Costs for Consumers
Trump’s approach to trade is another disaster in the making. His administration initially imposed a 10% tariff on energy imports from Canada but temporarily paused it after negotiations. If reinstated, this would raise gas and electricity prices for American consumers, especially in states like Michigan and Minnesota that rely heavily on Canadian energy.
His proposed universal baseline tariff—a tax on nearly all imported goods—would raise prices on everything from groceries to electronics (Reuters). The idea that tariffs protect American jobs is a well-worn Trump talking point. In reality, tariffs function as a hidden tax on consumers, forcing them to pay more while giving corporations an excuse to pad their profit margins.
Corporate Profits Soar While Wages Stay Flat
Despite his rhetoric, Trump’s policies will not raise wages because they don’t require corporations to share their record-breaking profits with workers.
Corporate profits have skyrocketed for decades, but wages haven’t kept up. Since 2000:
Corporate profits have surged by 107% (adjusted for inflation).
Worker compensation has risen just 28% in the same period.
The share of GDP going to worker wages has dropped from 51% in 1970 to around 44% today, while corporate profits have doubled.
Meanwhile, consumer costs continue rising, not because of inflation alone but because corporations exploit economic uncertainty to jack up prices. A 2024 analysis found that corporate profits accounted for 53% of recent inflation, meaning big businesses use inflation to squeeze even more out of consumers.
Who Wins? Corporations. Who Loses? You.
The brutal truth is this: Trump’s economic policies aren’t designed to help American families—they’re designed to help the ultra-rich hoard even more wealth while forcing everyday Americans to work harder for less.
By cutting regulations, Trump is making it easier for corporations to price-gouge without consequence. By slashing medical research funding and rolling back drug price caps, he’s ensuring higher healthcare costs for patients while padding pharmaceutical profits. And by pushing for tariffs and deregulation, he’s driving up consumer costs while giving big businesses a free pass to keep wages low.
Trump’s second term is shaping up to repeat his first: a corporate giveaway disguised as economic relief. And unless Americans demand actual policies that hold corporations accountable, we’ll be left paying more for everything—while executives and shareholders laugh all the way to the bank.
Bibliography:
MarketWatch – "It's official: The Trump tax cuts were a bust"
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/its-official-the-trump-tax-cuts-were-a-bust-2019-01-30
The Guardian – "'A kick in the stomach': massive GM layoffs leave workers distraught."
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/dec/27/general-motors-ohio-auto-car-layoffs
AP News – "Trump appoints Scott Turner as HUD Secretary, outlining new housing policies"
https://apnews.com/article/c16a88a1b5fd117884bdc51627b99270New York Post – "Trump’s HUD scraps gender identity protections for homeless shelters"
https://nypost.com/2025/02/06/us-news/trump-housing-and-urban-development-secretary-scott-turner-scraps-housing-equal-access-rule-tied-to-gender-identity/The Guardian – "Trump administration to cut billions from medical research funding"
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/08/trump-administration-medical-research-funding-cutsMaynard Nexsen – "Trump’s latest executive orders impact healthcare and drug pricing"
https://www.maynardnexsen.com/publication-president-trumps-latest-executive-orders-impacting-health-careAP News – "Trump’s 10% tariff on Canadian energy imports and its economic impact"
https://apnews.com/article/753a09d56cd318f2eb1d2efe3c43b7d4Reuters – "Trump tariffs stoke U.S. food inflation despite pledge to lower costs"
https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/trump-tariffs-stoke-us-food-inflation-despite-pledge-lower-costs-2025-01-31/JEC Senate Report – "Weekly Economic Snapshot: Corporate Profits vs. Wages"
https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/democrats/2018/8/weekly-economic-snapshotWikipedia – "Economy of the United States: Wages vs. Corporate Profits"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_United_StatesThe Guardian – "US inflation caused by corporate profits, not just supply chain issues"
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/jan/19/us-inflation-caused-by-corporate-profits
His real agenda is to enact Project 2025 and empower a coup.
Imagine if the MAGA were concerned with facts and not just racist rants at the Klan rallies. Imagine if they read papers such as the Coffman Chronicle and were able to see it up close. When you get your news from Facebook or Fox you are destined for failure. I wonder when they will feel they have been taken advantage of. Funny, there's zero inflation when they buy all of that Trump Trash at the rallies....