Donald Trump seems to operate under the assumption that his base of supporters is as devout as they come and fully ready and willing to suffer through whatever ramifications may come their way, all in the name of his agenda.
However, according to a brutal new analysis from The Washington Post, Donald may have “miscalculated” just how much the American people are willing to take on his behalf — especially when it comes to the pressure they’re going to feel on their pocketbooks as a result of Trump’s expansive tariffs plan against Canada, Mexico, and China.
Over the weekend, Trump took to his Truth Social echo chamber where he penned one of his trademarked shouty caps posts about his tariffs plan, in which he basically told American citizens that things are about to get a whole lot pricier but they just need to suck it up, in the name of making America “great again”: WILL THERE BE SOME PAIN? YES, MAYBE (AND MAYBE NOT!) BUT WE WILL MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, AND IT WILL ALL BE WORTH THE PRICE THAT MUST BE PAID.”
Canada was quick as a whip to respond with an announcement of their planned retaliatory tariffs, a move that prompted Fox News to publish an extensive and rather humiliating running list of all the goods that will soon leave Americans digging even deeper into their already empty wallets as a result of this tariffs war between the countries.
Fox’s public display included a total of 23 goods that will almost undoubtedly see a significant price hike as a result of this proverbial pissing match, including “crude oil, beer, avocados, maple syrup, ground beef, cooking oil, and cars.”
As we all know, almost the entirety of Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign rested on the premise that prices were high and getting higher under Democratic leadership and the only way to see any relief on our bank accounts was to return him back to office.
While I don’t know the specific statistics and demographics, I feel it’s pretty safe to say that more than a few Americans cast their 2024 presidential votes with the price of gas and eggs front and center in their minds.
Now, that same presidential candidate turned president is all but telling the American people that it ain’t gonna happen. In fact, it’s only going to get worse, and Washington Post senior political reporter Aaron Blake pointed out that there’s a very high likelihood that voters aren’t going to be happy or willing to suffer through Donald’s “pain.”
Blake turned attention to a recent YouGov survey that showed only 29 percent of Americans were supportive of an increase in tariffs, while 27 percent wanted to see them remain the same and 18 percent were in support of a decrease.
“But then we get to the rub,” Blake explains in his analysis. “The pollster followed up by asking those who supported higher tariffs whether they still wanted them ‘even if that leads to higher prices for American consumers. Only about half of those who said they wanted increased tariffs — 52 percent — stood by that position.”
Blake goes on to point to a Reuters-Ipsos poll that showed only a measly 9 percent of Americans “strongly” supported the tariffs increase if the increase meant that their own finances would be effected by price increases.
“In other words, this is something that not many Americans appear to be clamoring for nearly as much as Trump is. And it’s also something that could catch them off-guard in a way that’s very personal to them — especially given Trump’s sales pitch treated the tariffs as a win-win with virtually no downside,” Blake writes, adding, “Now we find out just how much ‘pain’ his supporters are willing to tolerate.”
You can read Blake’s full, extensive analysis with The Washington Post here.
Featured image via DoD photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Marianique Santos