Just over a year after President Donald Trump declared the U.S. was entering a “golden age,” Americans are expressing unprecedented pessimism about their personal finances.
A Gallup poll released Tuesday found 55% of Americans say their personal finances are getting worse — the highest level in 25 years of Gallup data. By comparison, 49% reported worsening finances at the outset of the 2008 Great Recession, and 50% said the same at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and during the post-pandemic inflation peak in 2023.
“Affordability continues to be the main financial challenge for US households, with concerns about various costs far outpacing all other financial worries,” Gallup said, adding that lingering effects of sustained inflation during and after the pandemic have left Americans cautious about their financial outlook. The poll was conducted April 1–15.
Financial pressures have intensified since the survey. Brent crude futures, at $95 per barrel on April 15, have since risen above $111 per barrel, and the national average gas price climbed from about $4.02 to $4.17 per gallon, according to AAA data. The rise in oil prices followed President Trump’s launch of a war with Iran and subsequent closures of the Strait of Hormuz to most commercial shipping, which disrupted energy and fertilizer supplies.
The conflict has sparked warnings of potential fertilizer shortages during planting season and raised concerns about a global food crisis unless shipping routes reopen soon. Those supply risks could be compounded by forecasts for a strong “super El Niño,” which scientists say would likely reduce rainfall in many regions.
Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers led by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) pushed Tuesday to use taxpayer money to fund a $400 million secure ballroom at the White House — a project Trump has long demanded. Hours after Graham outlined his plan, Rep. Riley Moore (R-W.Va.) defended the ballroom on Fox Business, praising Trump’s judgment and urging the project proceed.
Critics say the proposal is tone-deaf amid widespread economic anxiety. Data analyst Nate Silver’s polling averages show roughly 69% of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the cost of living, according to former GOP pollster Sarah Longwell, who mocked the ballroom proposal as out of touch.
Graham, joined by Sens. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) and Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), said they would fast-track legislation to allow public funds — collected through national park and customs fees, per Graham — to pay for the ballroom, framing it as a national security priority after an attempt to breach the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner. Trump has insisted the ballroom would be paid for by private donations from companies with government contracts, a plan that raised conflict-of-interest concerns.
Construction was halted after a federal court ruled the project requires congressional approval, but an appeals court recently allowed work to continue while it reviews the ruling. The Justice Department filed a motion asking a district judge to lift the injunction; the filing included language attacking the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the nonprofit that sued over the construction, and used the term “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
Graham argued the taxpayer-funded ballroom would include “a lot of military stuff” and infrastructure tied to national security and suggested it could keep presidents on White House grounds for certain events. Rep. Pramila Jayapal countered that Americans would prefer investments in affordable healthcare, housing, childcare, lower gas and grocery prices — not what she termed an “illegally constructed ballroom.”
The WHCA has historically held its annual dinner at the Washington Hilton, and it remains unclear whether such organizations would relocate events to a White House ballroom. The push for the facility followed an incident in which a man armed with guns and knives attempted to enter the WHCA dinner, exchanged gunfire with Secret Service officers, and was subdued — an episode Trump cited as justification for the ballroom.
– Common Dreams
