Troubling trends undercut Trump's boast of new 'golden age'

This is “the golden age of America, because we are doing better than we’ve ever done as a country,” President Donald Trump declared last month, standing before a backdrop emblazoned with “The Golden Age,” as he promoted a central theme of his administration.

On the White House’s social media page on X, it declares, “The Golden Age of America Begins Right Now.”

“The Golden Age of American business has arrived,” the White House also said in October.

“This is indeed the Golden Age of America,” President Trump told the United Nations General Assembly in September.

But the economic numbers paint a more complicated picture.

Inflation is persistent, most recently at 3%, and has generally trended upward every month since April, when Trump announced his tariff program. This, despite the president promising there is “virtually no inflation,” and having campaigned on ending inflation “on day one.”

Consumer sentiment has fallen to a near record low, Bloomberg News reported last month, noting that views of personal finances are “the dimmest since 2009, and consumers remain frustrated about high prices and weakening incomes.”

“Consumers are anxious about the high cost of living and job security, with the probability of personal job loss climbing to the highest since July 2020,” Bloomberg added.

On Thursday, those fears were supported by a new report from consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, that found layoffs this year have topped 1.1 million — the highest since, coincidentally, 2020, when Trump was also president.

“It’s only the sixth time since 1993 that announced job cuts through the month of November have surpassed 1.1 million,” NBC News reported on Thursday.

U.S.-based employers announced 71,321 job cuts just in November, Challenger reported. NBC noted it is “the highest total for the month of November since 2022.”

“Tariffs,” CNBC added, “were cited as the driver of more than 2,000 cuts in November and nearly 8,000 year to date.”

Some experts are now talking about “stagflation.”

“We’re seeing the early stages of what economists call ‘stagflation’ — the ‘flation’ part is inflation, and you’ve all felt that at the grocery store,” economist Justin Wolfers explained last month. “The ‘stag’ part is stagnation, which is, we’ve got rising unemployment and slower economic growth than we otherwise would have.”

And in October, Moody’s Analytics Chief Economist Mark Zandi said 22 U.S. states are already in a recession, Moneywise reported.

Meanwhile, millions of Americans this month are seeing their health care premiums for next year jump sharply — with some plans reported to be doubling or even tripling. And President Trump last month predicted that tariff payments will soon “skyrocket.”

“Foreclosures are surging,” CBS News reported last month, “as U.S. homeowners grapple with rising costs.” So are auto repossessions.

ABC News in November reported that “Americans’ household debt levels – including mortgages, car loans, credit cards and student loans – are now at a new record high.”