'Promises not kept': Wall Street insider tears apart Trump's grim economy

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media before departing for a state visit to Britain, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 16, 2025

When Donald Trump won the United States' presidential elections of 2016 and 2024, many Americans who voted for him cited the economy as a key factor in their decisions. But in a detailed op-ed for the New York Times, Wall Street insider Steve Rattner — a top U.S. Treasury Department official under former President Barack Obama — lays out 11 ways in which the U.S. economy has been going from bad to worse during Trump's second presidency.

"'Promises made, promises kept,' Rattner writes in his Times op-ed. "Other presidents have employed variations of that phrase, although few with the gusto of President Trump; he even proclaims it on the White House website. When it comes to the economy, though, 'promises not kept' would be a more apt description of the first 19 months of Trump 2.0. And many of the promises he has kept are causing as much damage as critics predicted. All in all, while Mr. Trump continues to boast about the 'greatest economy we've ever had, by far,' the record to date falls far short of that lofty pronouncement."

Trump's economic failures, according to Rattner, include: (1) "The economy is slowing," (2) "The deficit is projected to keep growing," (3) " National debt is about to break its World War II record," (4) "Manufacturing employment has stalled," (5) "Tariff refunds are in full swing," (6) "Inflation has caught up with paychecks," (7) "Gas is above $4 a gallon," (8) "Home costs have barely gone down," (9) "Mortgage rates are stuck near 7 percent," (10) "Medicaid cuts get bigger every year," and (11) "Price of health insurance jumped 26 percent from last year."

Trump claims that he inherited a broken economy from former U.S. President Joe Biden. In fact, the U.S. enjoyed record-low unemployment rates during parts of Biden's presidency. But frustration over inflation led to low approval ratings for the former president — even with all the jobs created under his watch — and many Trump voters blamed Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, Biden's vice president, for inflation in 2024.

Trump promised to lower prices "on Day 1" if he defeated Harris in 2024. But according to Rattner, prices keep going up — not down.

"It's unimaginable that Mr. Trump was ever going to bring down prices," Rattner explains. "But thanks to his war against Iran, inflation has become an even bigger problem. When Mr. Trump took office in 2025, inflation was only modestly higher than the Federal Reserve's target of 2 percent a year. With prices now rising by more than 3 percent, the Fed may begin raising rates — a move that will make everything from credit card debt to mortgage loans more expensive — in order to curb inflation."

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