Trump is getting richer. The Southerners who voted for him are getting poorer.
For many of the people who voted for him in 2024, Trump has made their lives tangibly harder and he's getting richer by the minute.
In 2024, you couldn't drive down a street in any swing states without seeing a sign like this: "Trump Low Prices Kamala High Prices." Another popular one read: "Make groceries affordable again."
Tactically, they were brilliant. Simple. Punchy. Memorable. And, like a lot of campaign signs, mostly aspirational, if not outright nonsense.
Whatever candidates tell you during campaign season, presidents tend to have limited power over your cost of living. They might influence, but never control inflation. Indeed, why would any president pull a lever to make your eggs cost more unless they liked losing elections?
But as we enter 2026, President Trump and Republicans have more than earned some blame for America's affordability woes. Trump's tariffs, according to the nonpartisan Tax Foundation, amounted to an average tax increase per household of $1,100 in 2025. That number rises to $1,500 in 2026.
And in 2025, despite a government shutdown and months of political pressure, the GOP-controlled Congress did not budge on extending Affordable Care Act subsidies. Those COVID-era subsidies played an enormous role in boosting health insurance in the rural South, helping people afford it who otherwise could not.
These truths are going to be especially hard to choke down in light of this:
According to Forbes' latest assessment of President Trump's wealth, since the start of his presidency, Trump's net worth has more than doubled—from $2.3 billion in 2024 to $6.7 billion by the end of 2025. Keep reading.
