Nine years ago, Donald Trump stood on a stage in Cleveland and made a bold claim. Arguing that the political system was “rigged” against ordinary people, he summed up his case for electing a billionaire outsider with no political experience: “I alone can fix it.”
Although Trump rarely expresses regret, he may be having second thoughts about that pledge these days.
In his first term, Trump largely benefited from the fact that a large group of Americans — including MAGA diehards, Chamber of Commerce Republicans and some key swing voters — seemed to believe him, regularly giving him high marks for his handling of the economy, right up until the coronavirus pandemic broke out.
Still, Trump was able to win a second term based on voters’ memories of the pre-pandemic economy and more bold promises that he could fix prices on everything from gas to eggs, starting on Day 1.
But he can’t. In fact, he never could. And voters are noticing.
Does the mom who’s working two jobs to feed her kids understand that the economy is a huge ship and fixing it requires a huge, slow turn? What about the 23-year-old Black man who gave Trump a chance in 2024? Are they going to keep giving the president the benefit of the doubt when he created the expectation that he could wave a magic wand and fix everything?
The answer is becoming clear. In a recent Quinnipiac University poll, 57% of voters blamed Trump for the economy, while only 34% blamed former President Joe Biden. And the White House’s five-word message to voters has shifted from “I alone can fix it” to “This is all Biden’s fault.”
Trump even gave an address from the Oval Office that amounted to a 15-minute deflection of everything to his predecessor.
“Eleven months ago, I inherited a mess, and I’m fixing it. When I took office, inflation was the worst in 48 years, and some would say in the history of our country, which caused prices to be higher than ever before, making life unaffordable for millions and millions of Americans,” Trump began the speech. “This happened during a Democrat administration, and it’s when we first began hearing the word affordability.”
Trump is not at all the first president to blame his predecessor. They all do it. Heck, who wouldn’t? But the issue is that pointing fingers on the economy is in direct contradiction with the way he has long marketed himself in both his public and political life.
Add in the fact that, for a year, the White House has made a deliberate effort to create the impression that Trump is all-powerful — bending the law to his will, bulldozing through Washington bureaucracy and kicking off a new “Golden Age” in America. It’s hard, then, to simultaneously argue that actually, in this one case, he isn’t in control, especially when it was the issue most important to voters.
Doug Heye, a former spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, said the problem may have started even before 2016, with Trump’s carefully crafted public image as a savvy real estate developer. “The reality of the economy rubs up against what is Trump’s core identity, and that’s the successful businessman,” Heye told me, noting that when there’s bad economic news, it undermines the one person who was supposed to be “uniquely empowered” to fix it. He points at Trump’s photo op at the McDonald’s drive-thru during the 2024 campaign as proof that the president instinctively understands how to sell a message on the economy that everyday Americans can understand. But Trump also has a long history of trying to avoid blame when reality gets in the way. Apart from Trump’s favorability rating, the next biggest casualty will be Republicans who are on the ballot in November. They are going to have to figure out how to campaign while the message from the White House toggles between “affordability is a Democratic hoax” and “your daughter should have fewer dolls this Christmas.” This all gives Democrats their best opening for 2026. Trump’s unrealistic expectations aren’t going anywhere, because they are so deeply embedded in his brand. Most important, Trump is not going to be able to continually drive home a message that resonates with the American people if it’s not in line with their lived reality. And that lived reality is getting bleaker every day. A Marist poll from Dec. 17 found that 61% of Americans said the economy is not working for them, and that 70% said the cost of living where they are is not very affordable or isn’t affordable at all. While the White House is promising to put Trump out on the campaign trail to sell his economic message, Republican candidates may hope that never comes to pass. Because Trump may be his own best marketer, but he’s also his own worst enemy — and no one can fix that.
Eugene Daniels is an MS NOW senior Washington correspondent and co-host of "The Weekend." Recommended
