In 2024, Donald Trump campaigned on lowering prices and keeping the United States out of major wars. But 14 months into his second presidency, the U.S. is at war with Iran — and his steep tariffs, according to economists Paul Krugman, Justin Wolfers and Robert Reich, are leading to higher prices.
In an article published by the conservative website The Bulwark on March 23, journalist Jill Lawrence stresses that Trump pulled a "bait and switch" on voters — one that is making the Republican Party increasingly desperate as the 2026 midterms draw closer.
"It's not like Trump doesn't understand what voters want, at least on some level," Lawrence explains. "In his 2016 campaign, he presented himself as anti-intervention because he knew many Americans were exhausted by the long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but he didn't follow through. In his 2024 campaign, he said 53 times, according to CNN, that he'd end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours or even before he took office."
Lawrence continues, "He also said repeatedly, because he knew voters were upset about inflation, that he'd cut prices on Day One. But he also promised tariffs, which inevitably raise prices, and mass deportations, which create labor shortages that have the same effect — and which have been conducted with such careless cruelty that new examples of injustice, pain, and tragedy emerge daily. His top economic priority has been to enrich himself and the rest of the billionaire/(Jeffrey) Epstein class, while sharply cutting resources for programs that help low-income people."
Trump's policies, Lawrence observes, are increasingly unpopular — and Republicans are responding by trying to get the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE Act of SAVE American Act) passed and make voting "more difficult."
"The SAVE America Act is the latest of many voter-suppression ploys from Donald Trump, a hot mess of a president determined to rule America at all costs and for however long he wants," Lawrence laments. "He is pressuring congressional Republicans to pass the bill, which would require documentary proof of citizenship — usually a passport or official birth certificate — in order to vote. A 2024 survey found that over 21.3 million eligible voters nationwide — roughly 9 percent of the total — don't have such documentation or easy access to it."
Lawrence adds, "It's an open question which party would be hurt more if SAVE manages to become law….. What is wrong with Trump and so many in his party? Would it kill them to rethink a policy or two?.... There was a time when the GOP seemed like a normal party — capable of change, and of trying to win fair and square."
