'Dark dangerous alley': Working class feels squeeze from Trump’s economic 'medicine'

Some Donald Trump voters — and others who didn’t vote in 2024 — are feeling economic pain from the president’s policies, USA Today reports.

Dixon, who did not vote in last year’s election, said they “felt this year was going to be a dramatic change for all the better.”

"But there's all this darkness that's already here and it's only April,” Dixon said.

"Even though the cost of living is going up, my paycheck isn't going up,” she added. “ I'm working as hard as I ever have been working but… We're blessed to have the jobs that we have, but a lot of places don't give raises.”

"To me, the economy feels like a dark dangerous alley, walking down with all of the little money you have in the world, hoping you don't get clubbed over the head," Aaron Washington told USA Today. "If you are at the bottom, it's a lot harder to punch up right now. I can't imagine making it to middle class in the next 10 years.”

"Times are tough out there. Times are really hard," he said.

Trump this month implemented sweeping tariffs on imports "that sent shockwaves through global stock markets, saying 'sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,'" BBC reports.

Per USA Today:

... Data suggests the "medicine" Trump's administering is causing Americans pain now.

The Yale Budget Lab predicts the average household will pay an additional $3,800 this year due to Trump's tariffs, particularly those impacting food and clothing.

Shaking up the stock market, driving up the price of cars and houses, and failing to quickly lower grocery costs adds to the damage in a country where the collective household debt now runs more than $18 trillion.

But some Trump voters feel the president's policies are working.

As USA Today reports, “On Cape Cod in Massachusetts, two-time Trump voter James McMorrow, 22, said he appreciates that gas prices have eased — it now costs him $60 instead of $90 to fill up his vintage BMW sedan. Before the election, McMorrow worked a construction job 40 hours a week, then tied on an apron as a restaurant server.”

"I wouldn't say everything he's doing is moving in the right direction, but it seems to be going well overall," he said. "I feel like with [Kamala] Harris, nothing would have changed, and it would have gotten worse because nothing would have changed.”

Still, McMorrow is feeling the personal impact of the president’s immigration policies.

"There a lot of good people getting deported, which I'm not a fan of," he added. "I wish there was a better way to weed out the bad ones and Trump is just doing everyone. Unfortunately, I really do think it's worth it."