Just over a year after President Trump declared the nation in a “golden age,” Americans are expressing unprecedented worry about their own finances. A Gallup poll released Tuesday found 55% of U.S. adults say their personal finances are getting worse — the highest share in 25 years of Gallup tracking. For context, 49% reported worsening finances at the start of the 2008 recession, and 50% felt that way at the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and during the post-pandemic inflation peak in 2023. The Gallup survey was conducted April 1–15.
Gallup said affordability is the dominant financial concern for households, with lingering inflation during and after the pandemic leaving many Americans cautious about their economic outlook. Since the poll was conducted, financial pressures have grown: Brent crude futures were about $95 per barrel on April 15 and have climbed above $111 per barrel, and the national average gas price rose from roughly $4.02 to $4.17 per gallon, according to AAA. Those energy price increases followed President Trump’s initiation of hostilities with Iran and the ensuing closure of much commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, disruptions that affected energy and fertilizer supplies.
The conflict has prompted warnings about possible fertilizer shortages during planting season and raised alarms about a potential global food crisis if shipping routes remain constrained. Those supply risks could be worsened by forecasts for a strong “super El Niño,” which scientists say would likely bring reduced rainfall to many regions and further stress food production.
Against this backdrop of rising costs and supply worries, Republican lawmakers led by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) pushed to use public funds to build a $400 million secure ballroom at the White House — a project President Trump has long sought. Graham outlined a plan to fast-track legislation permitting public money gathered through national park and customs fees to finance the ballroom, framing it as a national security priority after an attempt to breach the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner.
Hours after Graham spoke, Rep. Riley Moore (R-W.Va.) defended the ballroom on Fox Business, praising Trump’s judgment and urging the project to proceed. Trump has said the ballroom would be paid for by private donations from companies with government contracts, a proposal that has prompted conflict-of-interest concerns.
Critics called the push tone-deaf amid widespread economic anxiety. Polling aggregates cited by former GOP pollster Sarah Longwell show roughly 69% of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the cost of living, and opponents mocked the ballroom plan as out of touch with everyday financial struggles.
Legal and political battles over the project have been active. Construction was paused after a federal court ruled congressional approval was required, but an appeals court allowed work to resume while it reviews that ruling. The Justice Department asked a district judge to lift the injunction and, in filings, criticized the National Trust for Historic Preservation — the nonprofit that sued over the construction — using sharply worded language that included the phrase “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
Graham said the taxpayer-funded ballroom would incorporate significant security and “military” infrastructure and could let presidents remain on White House grounds for certain events. Rep. Pramila Jayapal pushed back, arguing Americans would prefer public investment in affordable health care, housing, childcare and lower food and gas prices rather than what she called an “illegally constructed ballroom.”
The WHCA traditionally holds its annual dinner at the Washington Hilton, and it is unclear whether organizations would move events into a White House ballroom. The push for the facility gained urgency after an armed man attempted to enter the WHCA dinner, exchanged gunfire with Secret Service officers and was subdued — an episode the president cited in arguing the ballroom was needed.
